Reports coming out of Spain are that Barcelona Manager, Tata Martino is keen to recruit River Plate’s Colombian starlet, Eder Alvarez Balanta to bolster his defence and provide the long term replacement for Carlos Puyol. The Catalan legend, Puyol has been struggling with injuries over the past 2 seasons and at the age of 35 his playing days are numbered. For this reason, Barcelona seek a top class, younger version and it appears that 20-year-old, Balanta is top of that list.

In Tata Martino’s final season in charge of Newell’s Old Boys he will have been all too aware of the rise of Alvarez Balanta. Ramon Diaz brought him into the River defence in the middle of an injury crisis and his outstanding performances immediately led to him being a regular and even drew comparisons to Argentine legend, Daniel Passarella.

Since then, Alvarez Balanta has become the corner stone of the River defence and River President, Passarella has looked to cash in. This transfer window, Passarella was in Europe speaking to a number of top clubs regarding his asset and big money deals were discussed.

None of these moves came to fruition but it is reported that River sold 70% of the players rights to an Investment Group. Passarella has denied this since, so there is some uncertainty over this but one thing is certain, Alvarez Balanta will move to Europe for a substantial fee in the near future.

Monaco and Benfica remain interested but now it is reported that Barcelona have jumped to the front of the queue. Depending on Puyol’s recovery and form on his return to the first team, a source at the club suggested this could happen sooner rather than later.