Well this would be a fairly intriguing Liverpool signing…
We, along with Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Manchester City are on alert after the discovery that Barcelona centre-back Marc Bartra is available for only £8.7m this summer due to a clause in his contract. However, come July 1st, the clause vanishes and a new €30m release clause will be activated, so any deal needs to be done soon.
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“His release clause has fallen to €12m after failing to make a certain number of appearances, but that’s only until July 1, when it goes back up to €30m,” Barta’s agent Javier Magico Diaz told FCInterNews, reported here in the Independent.
“Marc is very happy at Barcelona, but if there was real interest from clubs where he could get more space then we’ll listen and make our own decisions.”
Barta has long been touted as the future of the Barcelona and Spain defence, but at 24-years-old, he’s still never been able to tie down an automatic spot. At club level, Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano and Jeremy Mathieu are ahead of him in the pecking order, while he’s racked up just five caps in total. In fact, since his 2010 debut, he’s made only 46 La Liga appearances – nowhere near enough for a player of such calibre.
For £8.7m, his signing would be a no-brainer, and he’d add proper competition for Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho and Dejan Lovren. Technically, he’s the best of the lot, and his La Masia footballing education means he passes the ball out from the back, just the way Brendan Rodgers likes.
A centre-back is not really a priority, but with time running out to get the deal done cheaply, it might be worth taking a punt – especially if our rumoured centre-back target Joe Gomez (via Sky Sports) will cost practically the same amount…