Barcelona have already identified their long-term target to replace Ter Stegen | OneFootball

The powers that be at La Liga giants Barcelona have earmarked one goalkeeper in particular as their chief target to replace no.1 Marc-André ter Stegen in the long-term.

That’s according to Mundo Deportivo, who have on Wednesday provided a fresh insight into developments behind the scenes in Catalunya’s capital.

It is of course common knowledge that the Camp Nou brass are currently on the lookout for reinforcements between the posts.

This comes owing to the serious knee injury suffered by the aforementioned Ter Stegen over the weekend.

Any signing over the coming days or weeks would therefore arrive from the free agent pool of shot-stoppers.

And yet, if the latest word stemming from the media is anything to go by, it would appear that Barcelona have already begun looking beyond next summer, when Ter Stegen is due to return to competitive action.

As per the aforementioned MD, Deco and co. have set their sights firmly on the services of Porto no.1 Diogo Costa.

Portuguese international Costa has been followed by the scouting department in Catalunya’s capital for some time now, ‘very popular in the Barça sports area’ as a result.

The 25-year-old, in fact, is considered the ideal long-term replacement for Ter Stegen between the posts at the Camp Nou, albeit with any move for Costa unlikely to be forthcoming until Barcelona find themselves in a more stable financial situation.

Conor Laird – GSFN