Álex Baena remains one of FC Barcelona's alternatives for the upcoming summer market regarding left wingers. The Villarreal forward has not hidden his admiration for the azulgrana team, but the culés will have a lot of competition in the next transfer window if they want to sign the player from Roquetas de Mar. The latest club interested in the '16' of the 'Yellow Submarine' is Atlético de Madrid.
According to information leaked by Spanish journalist Rubén Uría, the 'colchonero' team will go all out for the Villarreal winger if Antoine Griezmann's departure is confirmed at the end of the 2024-25 season. The Frenchman still has one more year on his contract, but everything points to him ending his second stint as 'rojiblanco' to move to Major League Soccer (MLS).
Atlético takes a slight lead in the signing of Álex Baena
This season, Baena has 4 goals and 5 assists in 17 matches (1,309 minutes) with Marcelino García Toral's team, numbers much more modest than Griezmann's (12 goals and 6 assists in 26 matches). However, the 23-year-old Spanish international remains one of the Spanish players with the best projection in LaLiga. Álex is under contract until June 2028, and El Madrigal has set his release clause at 60 million euros.
For Barça, this amount would not represent a problem for the summer, thanks to their return to the 1:1 rule. At the same time, Atlético will also have no obstacles to join the bidding and their good relationship with Villarreal could give them a slight advantage in negotiations. The 'rojiblancos' closed the transfer of Alexander Sorloth last summer for 32 'kilos', making the Norwegian the fourth most expensive signing of the 2024-25 season for Diego Simeone's team. In any case, the final decision will be in the hands of the player.