Barcelona have grown tired of Deportivo La Coruna playing hard ball over Filipe Luis. The Galicians have been holding firm on their €20 million asking price for the Brazilian, while the Catalan giants are only prepared to pay half that amount.

And according to Sport, Blaugrana coach Pep Guardiola, who is reportedly getting impatient with the lack of reinforcements, wants the club to forget about the left-back slot.

The Barca-based paper believes that the Santpedor-born trainer is confident Eric Abidal will be able to perform his duties as the main left-back with the versatile Carles Puyol acting as a back-up when necessary. Instead, Pep now wants to focus on bringing in a two reliable centre-backs and has targeted Porto’s Bruno Alves and Shakhtar Donetsk’s Dmytro Chyhrynskyi.

The 27-year-old Porto man will not be easy for Barca to lure, as his club have slapped a €30m price tag on him, although the Catalan giants are hoping to bring it down to a mere €15m once negotiations start.

And even though the player himself has said he is in no hurry to leave the Dragao, his father, Washington Alves, told Sport, “Bruno is excited, because it fills him with pride that such a big club is asking for him.

“It’s true that he is a little worried as he is unsure about his future because he knows that one of the best clubs in the world have made an offer for him.”

The 22-year-old Chyhrynskyi, however, could be a slightly easier target for Guardiola. The centre-back would also cost Barcelona around €15m and the player has already made it known that he wants to make the jump to the Camp Nou.

Shakhtar’s coach Mircea Lucescu is aware that he could lose his key player, but he admitted that nothing is concrete yet.

“We are aware that Barca are interested in him, but [club president] Akhmetov has not accepted any offers yet so he continues to be our player,” Sport quoted him saying.

Barcelona have grown tired of Deportivo La Coruna playing hard ball over Filipe Luis. The Galicians have been holding firm on their €20 million asking price for the Brazilian, while the Catalan giants are only prepared to pay half that amount.

And according to Sport, Blaugrana coach Pep Guardiola, who is reportedly getting impatient with the lack of reinforcements, wants the club to forget about the left-back slot.

The Barca-based paper believes that the Santpedor-born trainer is confident Eric Abidal will be able to perform his duties as the main left-back with the versatile Carles Puyol acting as a back-up when necessary. Instead, Pep now wants to focus on bringing in a two reliable centre-backs and has targeted Porto’s Bruno Alves and Shakhtar Donetsk’s Dmytro Chyhrynskyi.

The 27-year-old Porto man will not be easy for Barca to lure, as his club have slapped a €30m price tag on him, although the Catalan giants are hoping to bring it down to a mere €15m once negotiations start.

And even though the player himself has said he is in no hurry to leave the Dragao, his father, Washington Alves, told Sport, “Bruno is excited, because it fills him with pride that such a big club is asking for him.

“It’s true that he is a little worried as he is unsure about his future because he knows that one of the best clubs in the world have made an offer for him.”

The 22-year-old Chyhrynskyi, however, could be a slightly easier target for Guardiola. The centre-back would also cost Barcelona around €15m and the player has already made it known that he wants to make the jump to the Camp Nou.

Shakhtar’s coach Mircea Lucescu is aware that he could lose his key player, but he admitted that nothing is concrete yet.

“We are aware that Barca are interested in him, but [club president] Akhmetov has not accepted any offers yet so he continues to be our player,” Sport quoted him saying.