Marc Bartra 'to stay at Barcelona' despite Tottenham and Manchester City interest
Barcelona centre-back Marc Bartra has decided to remain at the Camp Nou at least one more season even though all Tottenham, Porto, Manchester City and Bayern Munich have expressed interest in securing his services in recent weeks, according to Sport.
The 24-year-old Spanish international defender signed a new deal at Luis Enrique's side just last year until summer 2017 after coming through the La Masia academy as one of the most promising prospects of the club.
However, his future at the Champions League winners came under scrutiny in recent weeks after it emerged he will be available this summer for just €12m (£8.5m, $13.3m) -- due to a clause in his contract which stipulates that his original €20m fee will drop to that cut-price figure unless he plays the agreed upon number of games in a season.
Sky Sports then claimed Mauricio Pochettino was ready to take advantage of the situation to lure him to White Hart Lane this summer.
And with both Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano blocking his way through to the Barcelona first team, Bartra's agent, Javier Magico Diaz, then fuelled the speculation regarding a summer move away from the Nou Camp while admitting offers from other clubs to secure his services.
"There is interest in Marc from England and other countries in Europe. This is normal, but I cannot speak about the clubs. He is happy at Barcelona but he wants to play more games and we will look at the options. He has a €12m release clause in his contract," Diaz told Sky Sports.
But now Spanish newspaper Sport claims Bartra has instead decided to stay at Barcelona one more season after "saying no" to a number of offers -- with all Spurs, Porto, City and Bayern Munich having called his agent in recent days to express their interest in the player.
Meanwhile, and with Pochettino having targeted a centre-back as one of the priority for the summer transfer window, The Telegraph reported last week the North London side are close to securing the services of Atletico Madrid star Toby Alderweireld, who impressed during last season on loan at Southampton.
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