Barcelona has ended up with Owen Wijndal in the search for a new left back, so you know ASH to report. The Catalans are looking for a stand-in for Jordi Alba and the AZ wing defender is ‘in pole position’ to fill this vacancy. Having his agent Mino Raiola on good terms with President Joan Laporta would be an added benefit.
Sport wrote on Monday that Barcelona fears Alba’s departure. That newspaper named Robin Gosens (Atalanta), Angeliño (RB Leipzig) and José Gayá (Valencia) as the candidates for his possible succession. ASH writes, however, that it is a high priority for Barcelona to continue with Alba. The 32-year-old fullback still has a contract until mid-2024 and his successor must be prepared in his shadow in the coming years.
Initially the idea was to transfer Alejandro Balde from Barcelona B, but those plans have changed. There must be a left back from the outside to raise the level within the selection. In any case, Junior Firpo will not be Alba’s successor. He was taken over from Real Betis for eighteen million euros in the summer of 2019, but was weighed and found wanting in Barcelona. This season, Firpo only played 844 minutes over 18 official games.
Firpo must first be sold before Barcelona can bring in a new left back. Wijndal is according to Transfer market worth fifteen million euros, but ASH emphasizes that Barcelona hopes not to have to approach this amount. What may help is that Laporta gets along well with Wijndal’s advocate Raiola. The 21-year-old Wijndal did not hide the fact that he would like to leave AZ next summer for the next step in his career. His contract in Alkmaar will run until mid-2023.
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