Wolverhampton Wanderers v Newcastle United Premier League 25/10/2020. Newcastle United defender Fabian Schar 5 during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United at Molineux, Wolverhampton, England on 25 October 2020. Editorial use only DataCo restrictions apply See www.football-dataco.com PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUK , Copyright: xNigelxKeenex PSI-10915-0087
According to The Sun, Fabian Schar has come under the radar of Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman. The Dutchman wants to bring some defensive cover after a bad start to the season and has narrowed in on Schar and Antonio Rudiger. They are seen as stop-gap solutions until the summer transfer window.
Barcelona are in a really bad state right now. They are struggling on and off the pitch. The club have just won 7 of their opening 14 games in the league. Their core group of players are ageing and they can’t even bring adequate replacements.
Struggling financially, they couldn’t bring in their preferred targets. Their defence, which has somewhat been their undoing in recent seasons, needed an overhaul. Yet, no central defender arrived at the club due to financial problems.
The club waited on Eric Garcia for his contract to expire but with Gerard Pique’s injury, things got a bit complicated. The likes of Oscar Mingueza and Ronald Araujo had to step up from the academy. It is clear that Barca need a new centre-back, even if it’s on a temporary basis.
The potential availability of Fabian Schar can be seen as a good chance. The vastly-experienced Swiss international’s contract at Newcastle is due to expire at the end of the season. With the Magpies yet to initiate talks over a new deal, the door remains open for the Blaugrana to lure him to Camp Nou.
Fabian Schar has had his fair share of highs and lows in the Premier League over the past couple of seasons. But his spell in English football has largely been a success. The Newcastle star, therefore, ticks the box as a defender of proven pedigree at this level. He would add a lot more depth and experience to Barca’s backline.
Besides that, Schar boasts a good scoring record for a centre-back (he has bagged 33 goals in his club career so far), which should come as an added bonus to the Catalans. The 28-year-old still has several years remaining in his prime, making him well worth a punt for Barcelona in the winter market, even if it’s for a short term.