Barcelona 'seriously' considering activating £8.2m option to sign Yerry Mina in January

Barcelona are said to be 'seriously' considering activating a €9m (£8.2m, $10.7m) option to sign Yerry Mina from Palmeiras ahead of the January transfer window.

The report from Catalan publication Mundo Deportivo comes after club president Josep Maria Bartomeu admitted that the La Liga giants are open to bolstering the squad in the winter market if Ernesto Valverde's side struggle during the first part of the 2017-2018 season.

"Maybe there was the need to bring one more player to complete the squad but we decided not to go ahead with the negotiations [to sign Coutinho] due to the inflation in the market. Now we have to wait a few months until the January transfer window and, if we see that it is necessary [to sign more players], we will make some changes," the Barcelona president said earlier this week.

The new Barcelona boss has already made five signings during the recent summer in the form of Paulinho, Nelson Semedo, Gerard Deulofeu, Ousmane Dembele and Marlon Santos. However, the Brazilian centre-back has since joined Nice on a two season-long deal in order to continue his development before having the chance to establish himself at the Nou Camp.

The departure of Marlon sparked speculation that the Catalans may try to sign another centre-back in the dying embers of the summer transfer window as Valverde only has Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti and Javier Mascherano to cover the position.

It has been said that Valverde had demanded Barcelona officials sign a new centre-back with his favoured targetbeing Íñigo Martínez from Real Sociedad.

Barcelona, however, eventually decided against signing the Spanish international and instead kept the injury-prone Thomas Vermaelen as the fourth-choice centre-back.

Mundo Deportivo claims that Barcelona plan to fulfil the wishes of Valverde in January by bringing in a new centre-back.

The reports says Barcelona are well aware that they need to act in the coming January window and will do so by activating an option to secure the services of Mina, to join the club as soon as possible in order to increase Valverde's resources in a critical position.

It is well known the Catalans have already secured a first refusal to sign the 22-year-old Palmeiras from January 2018.

Mundo Deportivo says that Barcelona would need to pay €9m if they bring in the Colombia international in January, but will require more if they wait until the next summer window.

In June, Mina's agent already confirmed that his client will likely be playing for Barcelona in the second part of the season.

"Yes, his arrival is scheduled for 2018," Felipe Russo said. "For the moment he'll stay in Brazil, then he will go to La Liga. Everything is practically closed and his dream has always been to be a Barcelona player."

"Why would this breakdown, when it's a move that ensures the player's best interests?" Russo asked. "He'll stay with Palmeiras for another season as he wants to be in top shape going into the 2018 World Cup. But there are zero possibilities that things will change."