The big news in Barcelona over the past week was Mateu Alemany deciding to leave the club a year before his contract expires.
According to the Catalan media there’s multiple reasons for the exit, and the crucial parts relate to who makes transfer decisions and the running of the financial side of the football club.
Alemany is expected to move to Aston Villa, but he’s guaranteed Barcelona that he’ll manage their business this summer and will be available in a consultant capacity until the end of the transfer window.
Aston Villa’s interest in Alemany was first reported in Spain earlier this year, and at the time it was largely dismissed by many.
AS explain that Olabe isn’t the only person at Real Sociedad who has been on the Aston Villa agenda. Midfielders Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino are also attracting serious interest from Unai Emery.
Interestingly, Zubimendi has been linked to Barcelona repeatedly in recent months. The gist is he’s the midfielder the Blaugrana desire most, but the costs of a deal would be prohibitive.
Given that, it would not be a huge surprise if Alemany tries to get him to Aston Villa.
