Even though Barcelona have been chasing Chelsea fullbacks Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso for a long time, it’s also well known that the Catalan side don’t want to spend a lot on these signings.
So as Sport features an update on this pursuit, they point out that the requests made by the Blues are quite discouraging for the La Liga giants.
It’s claimed that in early July, when Chelsea owner Todd Boehly made a visit to Barcelona, he demanded €25m for the double deal. And according to the story, Barça ‘aren’t even remotely considering paying that figure’.
The argument from the Camp Nou side is that both Alonso and Azpilicueta want to make the transfer, and since they have one year left on their contracts, they could move for less.
Sport writes that with the first demands, Chelsea ‘opened the door’ for the negotiations. Barcelona’s idea would be to negotiate them separately, believing the Blues have been ‘lengthening the matter until they have signed their substitutes’.
With Thomas Tuchel’s side indeed working on other signings, it’s claimed there should be news ‘in the next few days’. The La Liga side expect each player to leave for less than €10m.