Catalan outlet Sport features a story on the complicated situation Barcelona are having with Ilaix Moriba.
It’s reported that the midfielder hasn’t accepted the latest offer he had to renew his contract with the club, as he apparently looks for a way out of the Camp Nou, but they won’t just let him go like that.
Barcelona think the reason for his will to leave is potential offers that the youngster could receive. Sport says Chelsea have ‘always wanted him’, and other Premier League and Bundesliga sides are attentive to the situation.
So even though the Camp Nou side are offering the player a salary of over €2m per season, likely to be after tax, that’s still not enough to convince him to stay.
However, if Ilaix is forcing a transfer, that should still not happen now. Barcelona are not to be interested in letting him move for little, and even if he does not sign a new contract, the club could keep him during the final year of his current deal.
Even though he could move for free next year, that’d mean he’d be sidelined by Barça for one season, and that’s obviously something harmful for a 20-year-old. The idea would be to use the player as an example and a warning to other youngsters at the club.
Chelsea have been linked repeatedly in recent weeks, and the Catalan media seem to be most concerned about the Blues over other clubs.
