Cesar Azpilicueta is out of contract this summer. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
According to ESPN, Barcelona remain hopeful that Chelsea will not activate the unilateral clause in the contract of Cesar Azpilicueta ahead of the summer transfer window. There has been a lot of uncertainty regarding the skipper’s future at Stamford Bridge in recent times.
Azpilicueta is in the last year of his current deal with the Blues and is free to leave after this season. Barca want to finalise a move for him next summer when his contract expires. However, the Blues have an option to trigger an extension, but they would not need the approval of the defender.
The Spaniard is eager to move to Camp Nou with Xavi Hernandez personally requesting the Catalans to secure his services. A move was seemingly getting close to being completed before the UK Government had sanctioned Roman Abramovich. Despite that, the Spanish club thinks that Thomas Tuchel’s side will not stand in their captain’s way for his contribution over the years.
The 32-year-old has been ever-present in our team for quite a long time, and fans may have been okay with him leaving after running down his deal under normal circumstances because of his personal desires. That being said, we have been affected a lot by the sanctions; taking a financial hit which has been troublesome for the club.
Even if we cannot engage in any contract dealings at the moment, we could still try and convince the Premier League star to stay with us for a longer period. If and when the ban is lifted, we should try to activate the unilateral clause because we are in mid-March are on the verge of losing three of our first-team defenders in Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen.
Keeping hold of at least one of them, be it the ageing Azpilicueta, could prove to be useful for us if we don’t have the financial might to go out and buy big names in the summer. The Spaniard knows the DNA of the club and would be crucial in a period of transition for our defence if his teammates, Christensen and Rudiger, actually do end up leaving.
If the Spain international still wants to leave, we should activate the contract clause and then demand the Blaugrana side to pay a modest amount in transfer fees. That would help us in some sort of way rather than losing one of our key players for free.
With Christensen and Rudiger also being in line to leave on free transfers, we are in a bit of a tight spot at this instant. Replacing them could prove to be difficult and costly due to the current circumstances. Hence, let’s hope that the club officials can reach an agreement with the skipper for the best interest of all the parties.
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