Athletic Club official responds to Barcelona links with Aymeric Laporte | OneFootball

FC Barcelona are set to enter a crucial phase of the summer transfer window next week as they have been planning to launch their next offensive for the Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez after the end of the World Cup. As things stand, the Argentine would be playing in the final on Sunday, where he would face 8 Blaugrana players in the Spanish national team.

This operation is undoubtedly going to take up most of the Catalan club’s attention in the coming few days. However, they are also keeping an eye on other areas of the team, and some recent reports suggested that they had some center-back targets in their sights in case they needed to replenish their backline if one of their current defenders left.

The Athletic Club center-back Aymeric Laporte, another player who will be playing in the upcoming final, has been among these potential targets for Barcelona. However, as MARCA has reported, the sporting director of the Basque club, Mikel Gonzalez, denied that his side was in negotiations with the Blaugrana club for the defender’s transfer.

The official made it clear that Laporte remains an essential part of the Athletic Club team:

“We have not received any contact, nor any official or unofficial offer from the Barcelona board regarding Aymeric Laporte.”

“At this moment, there are no negotiations of any kind between the two clubs. Everything that has been published is nothing more than unfounded rumors with no basis in reality. Aymeric Laporte will remain with us because he is a key player and an essential part of our team.”

“Laporte is one of the key pillars of the team’s project for the new season. We have great confidence in his technical abilities and wealth of experience, so we have never considered letting him leave.”

These statements are not surprising, as reports on the matter only suggested that Barcelona were monitoring him as a potential target, and would start negotiations for his signing only if one of their current defenders left.

However, with his comments about Aymeric Laporte being a key part of Athletic Club’s team, Mikel Gonzalez might have also closed the door to a future move for the experienced defender, who joined the Basque club last September from Al-Nassr, and has a €15 million release clause.

The partnership he has formed with Pau Cubarsi in the defense of the Spanish national team is one of the main factors that make him a highly attractive option for Barcelona.