Alessandro Bastoni’s transfer to Barcelona is no longer as likely as it seemed until a few weeks ago. According to Mundo Deportivo, the Blaugrana club has not yet decided to sink the blow and is continuing to evaluate the situation.
Hansi Flick, the Catalans’ coach, in particular has reportedly not yet given his okay to the deal, mainly because of issues related to the player’s characteristics: Barcelona, now close to winning the league, is looking for a very quick defender, while Bastoni is not considered among the fastest in the role.
The Inter defender, who has reportedly already said yes to a five-year contract with Barcelona, would, however, like to have guarantees on minutes. That is why he is waiting for a definitive answer from Flick. In case of no go-ahead, he would be willing to stay at Inter, also because the Nerazzurri club has not yet received any official offers from Barcelona, despite initial interest.
On the economic level, Inter has set a starting valuation of no less than 70-80 million euros for its defender, who is linked to the Nerazzurri until 2028. In recent weeks, the hypothesis of including technical quid pro quos in the operation had also emerged: in particular, the name of Barcelona’s young full-back Héctor Fort, class of 2006 currently on loan at Elche, had aroused interest in the management of Viale Liberazione, in search of an heir on the right lane also in view of a possible departure of Denzel Dumfries, on whose contract hangs a 25 million rescission clause that can be activated by foreign clubs in the summer window.
