Birmingham City have been working to ign Deportivo Alavés’ Carlos Vicente for the winter market.
Two days ago, Chris Davies’ side reached a preliminary agreement with Alavés. The Blues face competition from Ajax, who joined the race for the 26-year-old.
On Sunday, the update was Birmingham City making an ‘astronomical offer’ to convince the player himself.
VI reported the Spaniard could favour the Championship side over the Dutch club. Diario de Noticias de Álava now picks up on this and provides the latest on this case.
Carlos Vicente and the Blues have reached an agreement in principle for the next three and a half seasons.
Negotiations between the two clubs are in the final stages for a fee of €8m. There’s now confidence the transfer will go through as they say his move to St Andrew’s is ‘very close’. Vicente could be ‘packing his bags for England in the coming hours’.
Standing ovation, begging, and goodbye
On Sunday, Vicente scored the opener in his side’s 2-1 home win over Real Betis. Ander Guevara replaced him in the 83rd minute.
The newspaper state: ‘The entire Mendizorroza stadium rose to its feet to give No. 7 a warm ovation after his outstanding performance. The applause gradually grew into a chant echoing throughout the stadium: “Carlos, stay! Carlos, stay”.’
After the match, he was seen hugging several of his teammates, seen as a goodbye. The Alavés fans fear losing him to the English club.
AS report Vicente’s future points to Birmingham City. They cover Alavés coach Eduardo Coudet’s comments about his situation after yesterday’s match.
“I see him doing very well. He’s a player who has rediscovered his form with hard work and support. He’s an intelligent lad. Sometimes you have to understand your own mental state. He’s standing out, and it’s natural that his name is being linked to the market. Beyond that, I’m not the right person to comment,” he said.
Birmingham City could be getting a gem
El Correo rated the player 8/10 for potentially his last performance ahead of joining Birmingham.
The Basque newspaper stated: ‘The Aragonese forward hit Betis right from the start with his tenth goal of the season. It was Vicente’s calling card in the match, as he was electric on the right flank, constantly overlapping, taking on defenders, and delivering crosses. He then worked tirelessly at the back and continued to cause problems with his pace. A fantastic performance.’
