Matteo Moretto Transfer Column: Xavi Hernandez planning conflict, Michel Sanchez and Alvaro Morata

Matteo Moretto gives Football España exclusive information on the latest deals dominating the papers in Spain, as revealed in Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing.

Differences between club and Xavi contributed to sacking

It’s true that there were certain differences, differences over transfer strategy between Xavi Hernandez and the club over certain players. The most obvious case being that of Vitor Roque, who Barcelona brought in at great cost in January and has barely played.

The relationship between the two wasn’t the best, and there were things that could have gone better. The sporting commission had doubts over Xavi’s handling of certain players, like Roque, and that was a point of conflict between them. There was distance between Xavi and the sporting commission.

Ahead of Almeria the famous press conference that eventually ended in his sacking, that was not the first press conference that Xavi had said things that did not go down well in the commission or with Laporta. Xavi said told things as they are, in his eyes, but there were times when his messages in public were not liked.

 

Atletico Madrid’s Alvaro Morata not a priority for Juventus

On Monday, Diario AS reported that Angel Correa would stay at Atletico Madrid, and it is true that he is happy in Madrid. But I would always caveat that with the fact that it depends on the offers that come in for Correa, right now, I couldn’t 100% guarantee that he will be there at the start of next season. No doubt things have changed since January, but we have to wait and see how it plays out in terms of offers, teams interested in him and so on.

Regarding links between Juventus and Alvaro Morata, I can say that the Bianconeri have other priorities. Morata’s agent is working on potential options in Italy, and he has a release clause of €15m that Atletico Madrid will demand in order to let him go, but there’s no offers at the moment. Right now there’s no firm contacts, or negotiations.

 

Chelsea sounded out Girona manager Michel Sanchez

The idea is for him to stay and continue the project at Girona next season. He’s a managerial profile that a lot of clubs like, and it is true that Chelsea sounded him out earlier in the season, but in a very soft manner. Chelsea have other priorities, but he is a coach that lots of teams in England appreciate a lot, not just Chelsea.

Obviously there is the link to Manchester City at Girona, and he has a style that makes him very interesting to big clubs, and my feeling is that he could end up at a top team, and that may be in the Premier League, but it is much more likely to be next summer than this one.