Barcelona Director Accelerating Efforts For The Signing Of Atletico Madrid Winger

Richmond MarfoMay 20, 2023

0 1 minute read

After making a radical U-turn in his decision to join Aston Villa, Mateu Alemany has already kickstarted his efforts to restructure Barcelona ahead of the new season.

According to Diario SPORT, Alemany is pushing through with the operation to sign Yannick Carrasco. There is optimism in the Barcelona camp that the club can complete the signing before the US tour in mid-July.

Carrasco is regarded highly by coach Xavi Hernandez, as the Belgian offers a lot of experience at the highest level of football. But more importantly, he is very good at one-on-one duels and offers a lot of defensive work-ethic, which makes him an ideal fit in Xavi’s system.

Barcelona, though, do not agree with Atletico Madrid’s €18 million valuation. Alemany wants the Madrid club to lower their valuation for the player, who himself has made it clear that he wants to join Barcelona ahead of the new season.

Carrasco has further stated that he will not leave Atletico unless he joins Barća, meaning Los Colchoneros cannot hope to negotiate with any Premier League clubs either. Sooner or later, they will have to reach an agreement with Barcelona.

The Catalans are hoping that Carrasco can be available for a fee of around €10 million. They are also open to including one of their fringe players as part of the deal, as long as the valuation from Atleti is appropriate.

Barcelona want to offer Sergino Dest in the operation, knowing Atletico Madrid are desperately seeking a right-back. But the Spanish giants are particularly interested in Ferran Torres. Due to the Spaniard’s €40 million valuation, however, Atleti would have to offer Barça quite a premium, in addition to Carrasco.

There were talks of Clement Lenglet potentially joining the operation, but the Frenchman is already in talks with Tottenham Hotspur over a permanent move to North London. So it is now up to Atletico Madrid to decide on whether or not they are ready to get rid of their star Belgian to Camp Nou on a cut-price deal this summer.