Digne can compete with Alba, but where will Barca find a right-back to replace Alves?

By Ben Hayward

The Catalan club announced the signed of the left-sided defender from Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, but they still need a player on the opposite flank after the Brazilian's ...

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Barcelona are getting their transfer business done early this summer. Less than two weeks into July, the Catalans have already brought in three players, with Denis Suarez, Samuel Umtiti and Lucas Digne all snapped up. But the Blaugrana are no nearer to finding a replacement for Dani Alves at right-back.
Digne provides healthy competition for Jordi Alba, with the Spain left-back below his best for much of last season, and is an upgrade on Adriano who is close to agreeing a move to Lazio.
The France defender, who spent last season on loan at Roma, joins from Paris Saint-Germain for an initial €16.5 million, while Barca paid Lyon €25m for Umtiti and Denis cost a cut-price €3.25 in a buy-back deal after spending last season at Villarreal.
That means the Catalans have spent in excess of €40m already of an original budget of just €60m, although that will increase following the €8m sale of Marc Bartra to Borussia Dortmund and again when the new shirt sponsorship deal is sealed.

So that is all positive for Barcelona, with Neymar's contract renewal sewn up earlier this summer as well. The Catalan club do not often carry out their business this early in the window, but finding a replacement for Alves could prove much more difficult.
Ideally, a new right-back would be one of two more moves for Barca this summer, with coach Luis Enrique still in the market for a forward who can provide cover and support for Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar - with Atletico's out-of-favour striker Luciano Vietto a possibility for that role.
However, there is still no news regarding a right-back and suitable options on the market appear to be scarce after Alves ended his eight-year association with the Catalan club by moving to Juventus earlier in the window.

Juventus' signing of Alves means Switzerland right-back Stephan Lichsteiner could be available, but he is already 32 and is clearly not an improvement on the Brazilian, the man who will replace him in Turin next season.

The ideal candidate would be Arsenal's Hector Bellerin. A La Masia graduate, the Catalan defender seems certain to move back to Camp Nou at some point in the future, but the Gunners have no intention of selling him this summer and Barca are unwilling to break the bank to bring back their former player.
Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid moved quickly to snap up a player Barca had looked at, Sime Vrsaljko, to compete with another excellent right-back: Juanfran. Vrsaljko is currently Croatia's second-choice right-back, but their starter in that position, captain Darijo Srna, is 34 and therefore too old to be considered by the Blaugrana.

Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta is only 31 but is already past the peak of his powers and is unlikely to move back to Barcelona where he previously played with Espanyol, even though he and Messi are close friends.

Meanwhile, Barca are not interested in Liverpool's Nathaniel Clyne and much like Bellerin, Tottenham's Kyle Walker would be much too expensive.
Other options include Udinese's 23-year-old Swiss right-back Silvan Widmer and PSV's Colombian defender Santiago Arias (who is 24), but neither seem good enough to make the step up to the Blaugrana at this stage of their careers.
Roma's Alessandro Florenzi scored a wonder goal against Barca in the Champions League last season and could be an alternative, although he is more of a wing-back than a defender, while a move for another Italian, AC Milan's Mattia De Sciglio, seems destined to be too difficult as the player is unlikely to leave Serie A and would be too costly anyway.
Replacing Alves was never going to be easy, of course, and after signing Digne to compete with Alba on the left, Barca now need to think carefully about their next move or they could end up starting the season with only last summer's signing Aleix Vidal (who has failed to entirely convince) and utility man Sergi Roberto (who prefers playing in midfield) as their options on the right side of defence in 2016-17.