{"id":58934,"date":"2026-07-22T07:13:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T07:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/58934\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T07:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T07:13:10","slug":"barcelona-admire-world-cup-winning-defender-but-transfer-remains-unlikely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/58934\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona admire World Cup-winning defender but transfer remains unlikely"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barcelona\u2019s search for defensive reinforcements has led the club to monitor several experienced centre-backs, and one name on the radar is Athletic Club defender Aymeric Laporte.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Spain international enhanced his reputation with an impressive 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign, but despite the <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/just-in-barcelona-consider-move-for-spain-world-cup-winner-with-release-clause-less-than-e15m\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">admiration from Camp Nou<\/a>, a deal remains far from straightforward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mundodeportivo.com\/futbol\/athletic-bilbao\/20260721\/1004208912\/laporte-conoce-interes-barca-ficharle.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Mundo Deportivo<\/a>, Barcelona appreciate Laporte\u2019s profile and are aware that he possesses the experience and quality to strengthen Hansi Flick\u2019s squad.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, the Catalan club have not made any formal move, leaving the situation at the stage of interest rather than negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>Barcelona admire Laporte, but no negotiations yet<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Laporte is well aware that Barcelona have been following his situation, although any potential move would first require talks with Athletic Club.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784704388_338_spain-v-argentina-final-fifa-world-cup-2026-1-1-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"Aymeric Laporte of Spain\" class=\"wp-image-206472\"  \/>Laporte is aware that Barcelona are interested in him. (Photo by David Ramos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defender remains under contract until 2028, meaning the Basque side retain complete control over his future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For now, Barcelona sporting director Deco has not contacted Athletic\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/la-liga-club-shuts-down-barcelona-move-for-experienced-defender-he-will-remain-with-us\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">dire<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/la-liga-club-shuts-down-barcelona-move-for-experienced-defender-he-will-remain-with-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">c<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/la-liga-club-shuts-down-barcelona-move-for-experienced-defender-he-will-remain-with-us\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">tor of football, Mikel Gonzalez<\/a>, nor has the club opened discussions with the player\u2019s representatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In fact, sources within Barcelona have also indicated that no direct approach has been made despite growing speculation surrounding the defender\u2019s future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reports earlier this month suggested <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/barcelona-offered-chance-to-sign-influential-spain-star-after-successful-world-cup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Laporte had been offered to Barcelona<\/a>, but those claims have not developed into concrete negotiations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From Barcelona\u2019s perspective, even though the admiration is genuine, there has been no indication that the club is preparing an official bid.<\/p>\n<p>Athletic Club to stand firm over Laporte<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"702\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/spain-v-belgium-quarter-final-fifa-world-cup-2026-29-1024x702.jpg\" alt=\"Aymeric Laporta, Spain and Athletic Club player\" class=\"wp-image-206024\"  \/>Dealing with Athletic Club will be a problem for Barcelona. (Photo by Carl Recine\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even if Barcelona decide to accelerate their interest, striking an agreement with Athletic Club would present another significant challenge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is because relations between the two clubs have become increasingly complicated following the Nico Williams transfer over the past two summers, making any negotiation more delicate than usual.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Athletic have traditionally protected their key players by pointing interested clubs towards their release clauses rather than entering lengthy negotiations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While speculation has linked Laporte with a valuation of around \u20ac15 million, those close to the situation believe such a figure does not reflect the club\u2019s position.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Given Laporte\u2019s pedigree, the Basque outfit is unlikely to consider offers below what they regard as his true market value.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barcelona\u2019s search for defensive reinforcements has led the club to monitor several experienced centre-backs, and one name on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[14717,92,222,223],"class_list":["post-58934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-aymeric-laporte","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-fc-barcelona"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}