Athletic Club -at stake to lose Nico Williams to Barcelona, and they can also miss a leading transfer target to Atletico Madrid.
The expected sale of Williams to the La Liga champions would mean that athletics has money to spend on the transfer market. Jesus Areso is expected to be pursued as a replacement for ex-captain Oscar de Marcos, who retired at the end of last season. And there is also a desire to sign Aymeric Laporte again.
Laporte is expected to leave Al-Nassr this summer, and a return to San Mames can be on the cards. But this can be threatened by Atleti, in which Cadena SER reports that Los Colchoneros has the 31-year-old as an alternative target for Cristian Romero, who is their leading candidate for the Center-back position.
Atleti had Laporte on their transfer shortlist last summer and he has now been added again. Club bosses are determined to sign Romero, but a deal may not be closed unless Tottenham Hotspur lower their asking price – which they are not obliged to do.
According to the report, those involved in the Spanish national team who leave Laporte Al-Nassr want to leave and return to Europe, because they want him to play at the highest level prior to the World Cup of next summer in North America. Al-Nassr is open to selling, but they will demand a considerable asking price to separate with the player they signed from Manchester City two years ago.
At this stage, no club has taken an official step to sign Laporte. In the case of Athletic, it is unlikely that they do this until the money from the Williams case arrives, but that still gives them an advantage over Athleti, which will pursue something unlikely until Romero is completely excluded as an option.