When I saw the headline ‘€90m Barca icon reveals City interest’ I thought that Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City team were sniffing around the likes of Andres Iniesta or Xavi. The truth, however, is somewhat more pedestrian. In reality, City are keeping tabs on the contract situation of Barca’s Eric Abidal, who just so happens to have a €90m release clause written into his contract.
The Frenchman is currently in the process of negotiating an extension to his current deal at Barca and from what I can tell seems keen to speed the process up. What else are we to make of Abidal’s claims that:
“There are clubs that have shown an interest, notably PSG, Milan and Manchester City.”
Abidal is thought to be after a new two-year deal and his latest comments strike me as a message to the people in charge at Barca that he is in high demand. He’s thirty-two now so there’s the distant possibility that any contract he signs now will be his last.
Barcelona won’t be keen to sign a player on a long-term contract who is at real risk of losing all his pace over the next couple of years. Despite this Abidal remains a great player and a real asset to the club. It’s a complex situation and there’s little wonder that Abidal has attempted to force the club’s hand.
As evidenced by his tussles with health issues, Abidal is a fighter. Despite this, age catches up with us all and it’s unclear how many years Eric has left at the very top of his game.
As for City whilst they certainly have the money to make such a move happen, I doubt that they have more than just a passing interest in Abidal. He may have quality but City seem to be in the process of building a younger team and will be wary of Eric’s age.
Why should City block the progression of some of the club’s younger talent to bring in a player who doesn’t offer any long-term protection? To me that’s a move that doesn’t make too much sense.
But what’s your take? Would Eric Abidal make a good addition to City’s squad? Does quality trump age in these matters?
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Bollocks
If its 90 euros then i suppose he’s worth that
Otherwise – complete rubbish. He’s 32!
this is a case of the player and agent using City rumours to boost his price. i don’t trust any defenders from Barca when they only have to defend 35% of the time in most matches.