Matteo Moretto Transfer Column: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Martin Zubimendi decision and Lenglet to Atletico?
Matteo Moretto gives Football España exclusive information on the latest business dominating the newspapers in Spain, as revealed in Daily Briefing by Fabrizio Romano.
Why Martin Zubimendi rejected Liverpool to stay at Real Sociedad
For Martin Zubimendi, it was very difficult. It's his club from birth, it can't be easy to leave that. I think that Zubimendi did not feel that the moment to leave had come in a definite sense, it was not yet 100% clear that it was time to make the change. Clearly, Real Sociedade offered him a very big contract for him and also for the club.
I think it's more a personal issue for him, rather than rejecting Liverpool, and although it won't be easy for Liverpool fans or others to understand, it's about his club. That's basically what he communicated to Liverpool.
When a big and important team like Liverpool comes for you, a thousand thoughts probably go through your mind. He didn't expect Liverpool to come in so hard for him, and they tried until the end. It was very exciting for him, he had to take his time with the decision, because he was at no point 100% clear about it.
Liverpool offered him a top-level contract in a top league, and so I think it almost shocks you. There is no doubt that Zubimendi was very attracted by the possibility of signing for Liverpool, and that is why the decision took so long. But in the end, he decided to leave La Real.
Valencia and Liverpool are negotiating the final details of Giorgi Mamardashvili's deal
The figures they tell me are around 35 million euros. Giorgi Mamardashvili is excited by the prospect of joining Liverpool, and Valencia knows it. Valencia brought in Stole Dimitrievski earlier in the summer, but they have scouted the market for another alternative already to replace Mamardashvili.
Los Che have negotiated the details with Liverpool, but in theory, wThey do not stand in the way of Mamardashvili's dreamand they know he wants to go one way or another. Therefore, it will come down to them to choose those details.
Atletico Madrid are set to target the centre-back next week with the Barcelona defender on hold
Atletico Madrid is currently focused on negotiating the exit of Joao Felix with Chelseaand to procure the arrival of Joao Felix, and they do all they can to do this. So next week they will turn their attention to defense again, as they hunt for a left-footed centre-back.
They already have an agreement in principle with Clement Lenglet, they still need to resolve a few details with Barcelona. It is the easiest and most affordable option, but as we said they have exhausted their options to bring one of their priority options, David Hancko from Feyenoord or Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen first.
Aymeric Laporte is a little further away. I have no doubt that Lenglet moving to a domestic rival will be an obstacle for Barcelona to let him go to Atletico, but they have to adjust his salary, which is very high.
Matteo Moretto will be back with more transfer news in the coming days, providing exclusive information on the biggest stories in Spain and Italy.
