FC Barcelona’s opening bid of €45 million for Alessandro Bastoni was reportedly rejected by Inter Milan. That brings up the question whether he is truly worth €60 million, the figure the Italians are said to be holding on for.
Experienced, with good pace, and elite with the ball, there’s plenty to like about the Italian defender. His passing is razor sharp for a centerback, and surely the reason why pundits think he’d be a good fit for Hansi Flick’s system.
However, a recent high profile match has
taken the shine off him substantially. With Italy needing to beat Bosnia and Herzegovina to avoid missing the FIFA World Cup, Bastoni made the critical mistake of fouling a player when he was through on goal. The defender was sent off and Italy would lose on penalties.
€60 million is not a crazy price, but it’s not hard to see why the Catalans were hoping for a discount given his current situation.
Barcelona reportedly think this high-profile stumble in his home country is, for better or worse, the perfect opportunity to pounce. It might also do the defender himself some good to get away from the negative mood in Italy.
Inter Milan, however, are not willing to let him go that easily. The nerazzurri have him under contract for two more years, and this bad moment will pass.
Ironically, this sort of situation sprang up around a Barcelona player last year. Ronald Araujo was the subject of transfer rumors, with Juventus ready to pounce on him after questions about his discipline in big games surfaced. The blaugrana kept hold of him despite the interest. The twist? The latest rumor is that Barcelona might try to use Araujo as part of a swap to land Bastoni.
