United, Chelsea And City On Alert As Laporta Confirms Barca Teenage Prodigy Is Likely To Be Sold

United, Chelsea And City On Alert As Laporta Confirms Barca Teenage Prodigy Is Likely To Be Sold

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has criticised the attitude of midfielder Ilaix Moriba for refusing to sign a new contract, suggesting the teenager will be sold before the transfer window closes.

The 18-year-old has not been allowed to return to first-team training due to his contract dispute and Laporta says they will not stand by and allow the player to leave on a free transfer next year:

“We’ll try for this case not to repeat itself. He has a year left and doesn’t want to renew. It’s a situation we don’t accept and we have to act. He’s a great player and, if he doesn’t renew, he knows he will have other solutions. We don’t want players, who we’ve made here at home, who don’t want to renew with a year left.”


“He’s been given opportunities, but the club is above all and they can’t make this kind of move on us. I hope the situation can be recovered. I feel bad that he doesn’t recognise what we’ve done for him. We won’t let him leave for free. Whoever wants to leave is free to do so, but with some conditions. Unfortunately, that’s how it is.”

Those remarks from Laporta will put the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City on red alert. Last week it was claimed that the Red Devils had tabled a €20m (£17m) bid for Moriba, and had offered the midfielder a €3m a year salary.

Whether there was any truth to those reports, we shall have to wait and see. With the transfer deadline just under a month away, we won’t have to wait long to find out which team the Spaniard joins.