When we last left the César Azpilicueta saga, the belief was that Barcelona wanted the player at all costs.
Down their end, Chelsea were said to have gone out of their way to make any deal for the Spaniard difficult, asking for a larger than usual fee, knowing full well of the La Liga side’s financial situation.
However, this doesn’t appear to have stopped the Catalans, with RAC1 taking to Twitter to reveal Azpilicueta is now ‘very close to being a new Barcelona player’.
Following the signing of Robert Lewandowski, ‘strengthening the sides’ of the defence has been a ‘priority’ for the club, which is why they targeted the Spain international.
‼️ Explicat a @EsportsRAC1 🎙 @laiacopa
📌 Azpilicueta, molt a prop de ser nou jugador del Barça. Reforçar els laterals és una prioritat. Es continua treballant per Marcos Alonso. 📌 Koundé s'allunya, el central està a tocar del Chelsea. pic.twitter.com/7EnjkbLJsR
— El Barça juga a RAC1 (@FCBRAC1) July 20, 2022
He isn’t the only Chelsea player they are after, either, as Marcos Alonso continues to be a target for the left-back role.
However, that isn’t as close, it seems, as they point out ‘work continues’ for his signing.
As for Jules Koundé, he ‘walks away’ from a transfer to Barcelona, because he is ‘close to Chelsea’, which was already reported earlier in the day.
All in all, the Blues appear to have won the battle for the Frenchman, which could, in turn, allow them to let Azpilcueta go to Barcelona, since both players are capable of playing at right-back and in the middle of the defence.
