Inter market: in the Bastoni-Barcelona deal, a young counterpart pops up
Barcelona’s pressing on Alessandro Bastoni is becoming increasingly stifling, with the Catalan club determined to give Hansi Flick the ideal defensive director for next season. Although Inter continues to stonewall, valuing the Azzurri center back at no less than 70-80 million euros, a new development has emerged in the last few hours: the Nerazzurri’s openness to the inclusion of a young quid pro quo. The management of Viale Liberazione, while preferring a cash part, would have identified in the young Héctor Fort the right profile to soften the negotiation and rejuvenate the right lane.
Fort’s name is not new to Inter’s scouts, who have been monitoring him for some time as one of the most promising players in the Masia. The 2006-born full-back is currently on loan at Elche where he has collected 12 appearances between league and cup seasoned with 2 goals and 2 assists. Although he has not played since December due to a shoulder injury, he is considered by insiders to be a modern talent, capable of covering both flanks with technical quality and physicality. For Barcelona, depriving itself of one of its most interesting talents is a painful but necessary sacrifice in order to get to a priority target like Bastoni, considered the perfect fit to pair with the very young Pau Cubarsí.
On the other hand, Inter will almost certainly have to put their hands on the right lane. Indeed, the performance of Luis Henrique, who arrived in the summer for around 20 million euros, has not convinced the Nerazzurri management, with the Brazilian struggling to establish himself in the team’s tactical hierarchies. Complicating the picture is the situation related to Denzel Dumfries: in fact, on the Dutchman’s contract hangs a 25 million euro rescissory clause, which can be activated in the summer market session from the first to the middle of July only by foreign clubs, exposing the club to the risk of losing the incumbent for less than market value. In this scenario, the inclusion of Héctor Fort in the Bastoni deal would guarantee Inter a young and talented heir for the right flank, allowing it to cash in on a monetary part that is crucial for the budget and, at the same time, to protect itself in advance in view of an eventual departure of the Dutch side.
The next few weeks, as the leagues close and the 2026 summer session approaches, will be decisive in terms of whether the exchange will officially take shape. Although Inter would prefer to avoid the sale of a defensive mainstay, the possibility of putting a monstrous capital gain on the balance sheet and simultaneously securing an outside prospect makes the Bastoni-Barcelona deal more than just a suggestion. Hector Fort could indeed be the golden key to unlocking what promises to be the transfer of the year.
