Yerry Mina was jaw-droppingly impressive at this World Cup.
The Colombian central defender scored three headers in three games, but was knocked out by England via penalty shoot-out in the Last 16 tie on Tuesday.
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He’s been consistently linked to Liverpool over the past few months, with fans suggesting Virgil van Dijk still needs a new central defensive partner, despite Dejan Lovren’s improvement.
But his agent and uncle Jair Mina has quashed reports, claiming his 23-year-old nephew still has ambitions to succeed at Barcelona, despite the Catalan club currently using Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti as their first-choice pairing.
“I’m not aware of any bids,” he told RAC1…
“The player has a contract with Barcelona and wants to stay at Barcelona. We’re going to see what the situation is with the club, but we don’t have any information [regarding a move]. He moved in January to succeed at a big club and Barca are a big club. He is convinced he will get the chance to do big things and our idea is that he stays where he is.”
Barca fans will tell you that Mina was poor in the second half of last season, after signing from Palmeiras as a replacement for Javier Mascherano, but his performances in Russia have been exceptional.
However, we’ve learned not to be swayed by a hot run of from at a World Cup. El Hadji-Diouf and Salif Diao remain two infamous examples, of course.
In fairness, we are starting to consider Lovren no longer a liability. If he can maintain fitness and confidence, we reckon that alongside van Dijk he may have his best season in red.