As part of their quest to find a new number six in La Liga, Barcelona have identified many candidates. Martin Zubimendi, Xavi’s perfect substitute for Sergio Busquets, naturally tops the list.
Due to Real Sociedad’s unwillingness to reduce his release clause, the Spanish midfielder will command a price tag of at least €60 million. Plus, Barcelona just does not have the financial wherewithal to invest that much on a single player right now.
Lopy: An affordable substitute
Consequently, the Catalans have been seeking out less expensive options, and they had found Dion Lopy of Almeria to be one of them. Despite playing for a team in last place in La Liga, the Senegalese international has performed well since his summer transfer from Portugal for €6.5 million.
Rumor has it that Almeria are demanding €40 million for Lopy in the next summer transfer window, so Barcelona may want to rethink their plans to get him.
Stade de Reims, Lopy’s former club, has a sell-on provision in his contract and will get 20% of the funds raised from this move. Therefore, Almeria is hoping to earn between thirty and thirty-two million euros from his sale.
Competitors from the Bundesliga and the Premier League
Two Bundesliga teams, Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt, reportedly offered almost €15 million to recruit the 22-year-old midfielder during the winter transfer market. He is in high demand.
While the German clubs made official bids for the player, Barcelona also contacted Almeria with a rough offer.
The Andalusian team is under the impression that Freiburg and Frankfurt will return to the Lopy signing process in the summer. Additionally, they claim that a ‘high’ Premier League team has offered to buy their player.
Barcelona is not expected to engage in a bidding battle with any club this summer, much less one for a player without a great deal of top-level experience.
However, Almeria may be compelled to reduce the asking price of their highly coveted midfielder in the summer in an effort to recover some of the money they lost by playing in La Liga, since they now sit bottom of the league.
