Market derby: Ronald Koeman and Zinedine Zidane are chasing this stellar defender

How many derbies have played Barcelona and Real Madrid in history? Hundreds. How many times did they face each other in the transfer market? Not that many. Now, they will clash again given there are both looking for the best defenders in Europe, who has plenty of experience in his national team.

Both Ronald Koeman and Zinedine Zidane, Barcelona and Real Madrid coaches respectively, have limited options in defense, and they could be really interested in going for this player. The Merengues just have Marcelo and Ferland Mendy for left backs, and the Frenchman is frequently used as right back, despite being left footed.

At the same time, Barcelona has club icon Jordi Alba, who has played in there for almost a decade after Eric Abidal’s departure, and his only rival for the spot is Dominican Republic-born Junior Firpo, who was about to leave on loan. What could both clubs look for in the transfer market then? Yes, a left back. And they would go straight into the national team to find him.

The appointed name is Valencia’s captain José Luis Gayá. The club seems quite willing to sell him, since they did the same with their former captain Dani Parejo, as other names like Rodrigo Moreno or Ferran Torres. Barcelona could have a little bit of advantage over the Madrid side for him, whose price is €35 million as reported by Transfermarkt. That’s $42 million.