Matteo Moretto Transfer Column: Alex Baena, Franco Mastantuono, Vitor Roque and Martin Zubimendi
Matteo Moretto gives Football España exclusive information on the latest business dominating the newspapers in Spain, as revealed in Daily Briefing by Fabrizio Romano.
Several days have passed since the statements of the agent of Vitor Roque, Andre Cury, were very strong statements, to try to put pressure on the situation.
From the club they tell me that they ask for the calm of the player, Barcelona's plan is to find a solution at the end of the season. I have not been informed of concrete names of teams that moved for him. As we noted last week, Cury has a relationship with different English teams, with Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur. But right now, there is no name that I can give you that you want to sign permanently right now.
There are plenty of clubs in La Liga who would be happy to have him on loan this summer. From Xavi's point of view, it is clear, Roque has to meet with the club to decide the best course of action, and he does not see it as a strong option to start or even as an obvious alternative in front.
Personally, this is uninformed opinion, I still think he could go out on loan this summer, but we'll see.
Many teams have asked, and they are asking about Franco Mastantuono, 16 years old from River Plate, Chelsea is one of them, but what they tell me is that Mastantuono only has Real Madrid in his mind – he sees it as the first option. The negotiations are in their initial stages, and there have been contacts between Real Madrid and Mastantuono, but nothing has progressed, so there is still a lot to be decided.
The key thing is that Real Madrid wants him, his intention is to go, even if things have to progress. As for reports from other outlets that Real Madrid does not want to pay his release clause, There is a chance that other clubs will come in and pay (reported at 45 million euros, 50 million euros in the last 10 days of the transfer window), but they have to convince Mastantuono as well. He will talk with his club, and if necessary, work out the terms. Maybe Real Madrid will try to pay part of the fee on a fixed basis, and the rest in variables, as they have done with a number of other players.
Zubimendi's deal is very complicated for Barcelona because of his release clause of 60 million euros and the financial situation, he also has interest in him from elsewhere. Real Sociedade is not a club that will sell the ground, and other interested clubs may be willing and financially able to pay the release clause. There are Premier League clubs interested, and Bayern Munich are also paying attention to him – there is competition for him.
Zubimendi is happy with La Real, all the players are very happy, they are well taken care of, but it is about whether someone comes in and pays their release clause. If a club enters, pays the clause, and puts a big offer on the table, it will not be indifferent either. Will have to consider that offer.
Barcelona Sporting Director Deco also met with Jonathan Barnett this week, Alex Baena's agent, and I'm told they touched on a number of topics, but nothing particularly in depth. They know that Xavi is very impressed with Baena, and as we reported, he could leave under his release clause of 60 million euros. There are other teams like Aston Villa, who have followed him for a while, but with Barcelona, everything comes back to their financial situation – they have to sell players before bringing others. If they fail, then other clubs move ahead of them in the race.
