Confirmed, Flick meets with the new Alessandro Bastoni: 'Urgent signing, only $5M'

Barça has set its sights on signing Alessandro Bastoni, center-back for Inter Milan, but his arrival is complicated at this stage of the transfer market. Despite all this, Barça insists that they will keep working to sign Alessandro Bastoni, although they're already preparing an alternative plan devised by Hansi Flick, the club's coach. Flick was a strong supporter of Iñigo Martínez and, therefore, emphasizes that the departure of the Basque center-back must be replaced with a new signing: it's urgent, only $5.3M (€5M).

With Iñigo Martínez's departure and the sale of VIP seats, Barça is optimistic and dreams of closing the signing of Alessandro Bastoni, defender for the Italian Inter. However, sources at Barça who are a bit more realistic point out that the club will go all in for another center-back who Flick also likes a lot: he only costs $5.3M (€5M). Flick is the first to back the signing of Alessandro Bastoni, but the German coach wants the signing to happen now and, therefore, has met with another center-back.

Many media outlets claim that Barça won't sign anyone to replace Iñigo Martínez, but "e-Notícies" can confirm that the club is working quietly to sign defenders. Deco's main idea is to fight or, at least, try to sign Alessandro Bastoni, who has a market value of €80M ($86.1M). However, Barça is honest with Flick and knows that signing Alessandro Bastoni is complicated, so Flick has started working on an immediate alternative.

Confirmed, Flick meets with the new Alessandro Bastoni: "Urgent signing, only $5.3M"

The summer transfer market remains open, so Barça can still react to the unexpected departure of Iñigo Martínez, who will sign for Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nasrr. Alessandro Bastoni and Andrés Cuenca are the main alternatives, but Flick has proposed an option valued at €5M ($5.3M) and Barça has decided to seriously consider it. The budget is limited, but Flick knows that, once they have "fair play," Barça will have money to bring in a defender capable of being a starter.

Alessandro Bastoni is Barça and Joan Laporta's great dream, who knows that Barcelona fans are "crying" over Iñigo Martínez's departure, the famous "captain without an armband" for the club. Barça has inquired about Alessandro Bastoni, represented by "TMPsoccer," but so far hasn't received a response from Inter, who would ask for around €75M ($80.7M) for the Italian defender. Flick knows that Alessandro Bastoni's arrival is complicated, so he's activated "Plan B": he only needs $5.3M (€5M), and he's already met with the center-back.

Flick calls him and he agrees to come to Barça: "The new Alessandro Bastoni would cost $5.3M..."

Iñigo Martínez's departure, just 10 days (16 km) before the start of the league championship, is significant and Barça knows that Flick is very upset. Far from backing down, Flick has stepped up and is working to sign his new starting center-back. Flick would like Alessandro Bastoni, but he admits that the Italian's arrival is practically impossible at this stage of the summer transfer market.

With the option of Alessandro Bastoni still in a very early phase, Barça is making progress in bringing back the defender from Terrassa Mika Mármol, who was playing for Las Palmas. Michel's Girona wanted to pay €10M ($10.7M) for the defender, but Barça owns 50% of the rights and could bring the center-back back for just $5.3M (€5M).

So said, so done: Flick has given the green light to an operation that would allow them, at least for now, to forget about the Italian Alessandro Bastoni, who would continue playing for Inter Milan.