With one week to go before the new La Liga campaign begins, news in Spain and England have reported an interest in Liverpool midfielder Trent Alexander-Arnold in both Madrid and Barcelona.
The 25 year old England star is moving into the final year of his contract at Anfield and is yet to sign a new deal, which has alerted both Real Madrid and Barcelona as the El Clasico pair prepare for a domestic title assault and a march on Europe. Trent is a highly technical and intelligent player who has morphed from a raiding right wingback, who became as assists machine during Jurgen Klopp’s heyday on Merseyside, to a quarterback style midfielder with a spectacular array of long passing.
He can play either role to a world class standard and he also showed what a cool head he has when he stroked home the deciding penalty in a Euro 2024 shootout as England beat Switzerland in the quarter finals. He has made over 300 appearances for the Reds and his current club would dearly like to extend his contract, but with three weeks left of the transfer window Trent is yet to sign and both Real Madrid and Barcelona are watching the situation closely.
Barca’s creative muscle is toning up
The pre-season La Liga 2024 betting odds, here at SBOTOP, pitch Los Blancos as favourites to win the title and Carlo Ancelotti’s team may also be the favourites to sign Trent, if he becomes available, as he is a close friend of Madrid’s advanced midfielder Jude Bellingham. But new Barca manager Hansi Flick has been positive in the market and he has already added one creative star to add to his existing array of talent in that department.
Having missed out on signing Athletic Bilbao’s flying winger Nico Williams, Flick has moved quickly to bring another La Roja star, Dani Olmo, to the Camp Nou. He’s joined from Red Bull Leipzig in a reported 60m Euros deal and Olmo is set to play in La Liga for the first time, after winning the Golden Boot at Euro 2024 with three goals and two assists. With his class on the ball, quick feet and an eye for the killer ball Olmo became a key man for Spain after starting the competition as a squad player; and he will join two more of La Roja’s heroes from the Euros and the Olympic Games. Barca’s 21 year old attacking midfielder Fermin Lopez was simply sensational as Spain won the Olympics Gold Medal and he is ready to kick on in Catalonia after a breakout season last term. And Lamine Yamal, now 17, was another of Spain’s standout stars at La Roja’s successful Euro 24 campaign and he is sure to produce an avalanche of La Liga 2024 highlights in the coming season as Barca aim to become Champions League challengers once again.
Flick is not finished yet and, as well as keeping tabs on the Trent situation, he is watching the progress of FC Bayern forward Kingsley Coman, who seems like he may not be in new Bayern manager Vincent Kompany’s plans. Flick knows the France star well having managed him during his two seasons as the Bavarians’ boss but he will be in competition for Coman’s signature, as Ligue 1 billionaires Paris Saint-Germain are looking for a replacement for the departed Kylian Mbappe. The 28 year old has had some injury problems which may concern Barcelona but the situation is live, and we may see some movement very soon.
Girona hit by virus
Last season’s surprise package Girona begin their 2024/25 campaign next week with a tough match away to Real Betis; and they will have plenty on their plate as they try to emulate last season’s third place finish, as well as making a good fist of their first Champions League campaign. Manager Michel has a lot of work to do and his team has suffered back to back defeats at the end of their pre-season, losing 4-0 to Newcastle United and 3-2 to Bournemouth.
And news coming out of the club that a virus has hit the squad is the last thing Girona fans want to hear right now.
Five players, Donny Van de Beek, Valery Fernandez, Viktor Tsygankov, Christian Portu and Oriol Comas missed the loss to the Cherries with the mystery bug, while forward Bryan Gil, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur was absent for the game with Newcastle as he felt unwell. In addition, another new recruit, Lasidlav Krejci, the 23 year old Czech Republic midfielder has not appeared since a friendly game in mid July and will not be available to face Betis. These are worrying times for Barcelona’s Catalonian neighbours.
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