The Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo" revealed that FC Barcelona has placed the Italian defender Alessandro Bastoni, a player for Inter Milan, at the top of its priorities to strengthen the defense line during the upcoming summer transfer window. This deal has shifted from being nearly impossible to possible due to the player's declining popularity in Italy in recent weeks.

According to the report, Bastoni faced sharp criticism after two notable incidents: his influential role in the expulsion of Juventus player Pierre Kalulu during a match between the two teams last February, and his own expulsion in the first half of Italy's crucial match against Bosnia, which resulted in the Azzurri being eliminated from qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. This placed him under widespread criticism within Italian sports circles.

The newspaper explained that the decline in Bastoni's status, who was considered one of the best defenders in the Italian league, is quite similar to what happened with the Uruguayan star Luis Suarez in 2014, when he faced a storm of criticism following the biting incident involving Giorgio Chiellini during the Italy-Uruguay match in the World Cup.

At that time, Suarez transitioned from an untouchable star at Liverpool to a sellable player in a short period, which Barcelona capitalized on to sign him, despite the penalty imposed by FIFA suspending him for 9 matches and banning him from any football activity for 4 months.

The report indicated that the deal Barcelona made with Suarez in July 2014 for 81 million euros came just a few days after the incident, even though the player was close to transferring to Real Madrid before that, given the royal club's interest in his services at the time.

The same source highlighted the similarities between the two cases, noting that both Suárez and Bastoni experienced a transition from absolute stardom to a state of public rejection. This coincided with a similarity in age, as Suárez was 27 years old when he moved to Barcelona, while Bastoni is currently 26 years old, amid increasing pressure that has reached social media.