Sevilla had become of the sides to reckon with in La Liga under the tutelage of Julien Lopetegui over the past few years. They finished in the Champions League places every season under the Spanish coach, and even lifted the Europa League in 2020.
However, after a massive clearout in the summer of 2022 that saw Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos depart to Barcelona and Aston Villa, respectively, Sevilla were struggling to mirror their best form this season.
Eventually, Lopetegui was sacked while Los Nervionenses were sitting in relegation places, with Jorge Sampaoli replacing him. And while they are currently out of the bottom-three, Sevilla are still just sitting 16th in the table, one point clear off the drop.
In an attempt to reinforce their team ahead of the new season, sporting director Monchi wants to bring in young attack-minded players in the summer. One of his targets is Barcelona’s Ilias Akhomach, as per a report by Culemania.
At 18, Ilias is one of the key players for Barcelona Atletic. He is also the captain of the Spanish U-19 team, and is among the players next in line to be promoted to the senior team if push comes to shove.
Unfortunately, though, the teenager’s contract with Barça is set to expire in the summer, and the player has not shown an intention to renew it. He is, therefore, free to negotiate with any team he wants right now and sign a pre-agreement.
This also means that Barcelona have chosen not to call him up for the senior team right now, even though Ousmane Dembele and Robert Lewandowski’s injuries have cleared up space in the squad.
Instead, Angel Alarcon and Estanis Pedrola have been summoned to the first-team for the game against Valencia tomorrow.
Leeds United are also reportedly interested in signing Ilias in the summer, and have reached a four-year agreement over personal terms with the player. This makes Sevilla’s task even tougher, especially with their current attack massively misfiring.
