DoF Mateu Alemany is moving ahead with Barça's move for Carrasco
The Catalan club have an option to sign the Atletico winger this summer
Yannick Carrasco has every chance of becoming one of Barcelona's first signings this summer. The Catalan club have already made the decision to go for the Atlético Madrid winger and the director of football, Mateu Alemany, has accelerated the negotiations to reach an agreement as soon as possible. Atletico are not making things easy, but there is the conviction that the Belgian will be on the tour of the United States.
Barça are working to lower the price of the option to buy Carrasco, valued at around 18 million euros. In the sports area they are clear that the valuation is overpriced so they are not willing to pay this amount. On the one hand, they are aware that Atletico are interested in several Blaugrana players and, on the other, that the player has stood his ground and will only leave if it is in the direction of Camp Nou.
Atletico no longer have any hope of taking advantage of any of the offers they have for Carrasco from the Premier League, so sooner or later they will have to reach an agreement with Barca. The idea of the Colchoneros is to sell the winger, who will not be part of Diego Simeone's project next season.
The two ways Mateu is working on are a transfer for less than 10 million euros or a player exchange, as long as the valuation is adequate. His aim was to place Sergiño Dest in a pure swap deal in view of Atletico's need to sign a right-back, but Atletico want to approach the operations separately.
Atletico are very interested in Ferran Torres, but Barca value him at around 40 million euros, so they would have to pay a high figure in compensation. Of the Blaugrana rejects, Clement Lenglet is also very much liked, but negotiations to sell him to Tottenham are at an advanced stage.
Barça are optimistic about the deal and believe it will be a good one, both in sporting and financial terms. Carrasco would arrive with a reduced and affordable salary for the club and Xavi considers him to be a very useful player because he is good one on one and works hard defensively.
