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Barcelona are interested in Athletic Club Bilbao’s Yeray Alvarez, as technical director Robert Fernandez looks for a new central defender. The 22 year old has a buyout clause of €30m, so wouldn’t be as expensive as his Athletic teammate Aymeric Laporte.

Laporte has a buyout clause of €65m, something which will increase towards the end of his contract, and several clubs have tried for the defender before. Mundo Deportivo explain that Manchester City have been one of those clubs, with Txiki Begiristain making an approach.

Manchester City were keen before Pep Guardiola arrived, and it’s claimed they’ve remained keen on the player since. Txiki was keen to sign Laporte in advance for Guardiola, but wasn’t able to get very far with a deal.

The €65m clause is thought to be too much for Screen Shot 2017-04-18 at 07.33.46Barcelona at the moment, hence the interest in Yeray instead, and even Manchester City may find the amount a little excessive.

Even if the clause is paid, Laporte, despite hinting at a possible future move, seems happy where he is right now.