Atlético enter chase for Valencia’s Carlos Soler
Atleti are prepared to offer Valencia more money, while Barça want to sign him but can’t and Juventus would rather wait until his contract expires.
Atlético are very interested in Carlos Soler and Valencia have more or less set up an auction for their academy graduate - one of the stars of their first team squad. Soler, an international with Spain, has several suitors but Atleti start out with a clear advantage over the competition because they have the money to buy him now. It’s as simple as that. Not that the Rojiblancos will be breaking the bank to land the 25-year-old - all of the other interested clubs have inconveniences which leave them lagging in the race to sign the midfielder.
Soler is under contract until 2023 and will be able to leave on a free next year. That has enticed a host of European clubs with three leading the chase - Atleti, Barça and Juventus. Barcelona’s interest goes back a while, but the club’s delicate economic situation dictates what they are able to offer. As AS reported recently, Barça would have to raise 170 million euros through selling players to launch their operation for Soler. Selling Frenkie de Jong alone wouldn’t be enough to bring in the funds to carry out the transfer and that impedes them from sealing a deal quickly. At the moment they must prioritise signing Lewandowski above all else.
One thing that Barça and Atleti can offer Soler is the chance to continue in LaLiga and that’s a factor in their favour as it means the player won’t be faced with the upset of adapting to a new country and language in the months leading up to the World Cup finals. But Juventus are also keen on the Valencia player. However, the Italians have a long-term plan in mind - as Soler will soon be entering the final 12 months of his contract, they would rather wait, hoping the player runs his contract down so that they can sign him as a free agent next summer.
In other words, Juve want Soler but aren’t prepared to pay a transfer fee while Barça would like to buy him now but can’t due to their financial constraints. Atlético are totting up the numbers to see how much they can afford to pay and will likely try to include players to lower the end fee, although Valencia want a straight cash deal.
Soler valued at 43.2 million euros
Olocip’s TCT-Scout performance analysis platform has Carlos Soler valued at 43.2 million euros but two factors would lower the transfer fee - firstly, the player is in the final year of his contract and secondly, Valencia are in a position where they need to sell. So any bid Atlético put in is likely to be much lower than Olocip’s estimation and could even be under 20 million euros.
Atleti must also wait to see what happens with Thomas Lemar, who is also entering the last 12 months of his contract and Saúl, due to return after his loan stint at Chelsea.