Inside Spain: Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino latest, Gibraltar bans and Conor Gallagher chaos
Inside Spain is a weekly instalment brought to you by Football España, providing an insight into all of the major stories coming out of the rich and intense climes of La Liga and beyond.
It’s been a breathless week in Spain in the transfer window, without much actually being confirmed. There are a lot of people on transport to new cities though.
Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez looks as if his flight from Ibiza is booked for early next week to compete a €75m plus €20m in variables deal to Atletico Madrid. Samu Omorodion will fly for London once the Olympics are over on Friday, to complete a €42m move to Chelsea.
Going the other way will be Conor Gallagher. He did not travel for 48 hours after making a decision on his future, mostly because Atletico tried to pull out of a €42m deal for him. Valencia Sporting Director Miguel Angel Corona did them no favours by revealing they wanted Javi Guerra instead, who they had also agreed a deal for. He had booked off training and booked a train to Madrid, but was told not to get on.
Such has been the excitement at Atletico that Kylian Mbappe’s first training session at Real Madrid has almost gone unnoticed. Arsenal fans could well be able to celebrate the signing of Real Sociedad’s Mikel Merino, with a bid due before the end of the week, but Real Madrid are reportedly part of the reason they did not go after teammate Martin Zubimendi this summer, for the first time in three years.
#RealMadrid beat #ChelseaFC 2-1 in their final warm-up before the European Supercup.pic.twitter.com/d25fQpi792
— Football España (@footballespana_) August 7, 2024
It might be the year they persuade him to leave though: the €60m Zubimendi is keen on a move to Liverpool, but is facing an effort from Real Sociedad to convince him to stay. Both leaving would be disastrous for the Txuri-Urdin.
Barcelona were of course the other power in the mix for Zubimendi for the past two years, but it looks as if they will forego the midfield spot entirely to bring in Dani Olmo, who arrived on Tuesday – but notably has not been announced. Nico Williams looks as if he will stay at Athletic Club after returning to training a week early in Bilbao, but Barcelona maintain they are still trying to sign him. At least one midfielder is having an impact at Barcelona though, with new coach Thiago Alcantara proving a valuable addition.
Finally, there have been plenty of run-ins with the authorities this week. Alvaro Morata and Rodri Hernandez will pick-up a one-match ban from UEFA for chanting ‘Gibraltar is Spanish’ during their Euro 2024 celebrations. That was a minor offence compared to ex-Barcelona and Real Madrid forward Javier Saviola, who spent Monday morning in an Andorran jail cell.
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