La Liga club president ready to accept offers for Barcelona target “If he tells us”

Jokin Aperribay, the president of Real Sociedad, has announced that the club would consider offers for their highly sought-after midfielder, Mikel Merino if the player himself requests it.

Merino’s future with the team remains uncertain, as the midfielder, who has received interest from several teams, is contemplating a move away from Real Sociedad this summer.

This possibility was confirmed by Aperribay during the presentation of Javi Lopez, where he addressed Merino’s situation.

“I think Mikel has been very honest with Real. He has had a renewal offer for a year and if he hasn’t renewed it’s because he didn’t want to tell the Real fans that I’m staying and then leaving, and I think that speaks well of him,” said Aperribay as quoted by SPORT.

“I would like him not to leave, we all would, but if he tells us that he accepts one of the offers he has on the table and wants us to negotiate, we will do so.

“We know he has them, and we also know them. But at the moment we continue to hope that Mikel Merino stays at Real.

“We would like it to be his decision, but if it is not, we will try to negotiate a better way for him to leave Real Sociedad,” he explained.

Merino is not Barcelona’s priority

Merino is a player Barcelona admire. His playing style would be a great fit in Flick’s preferred double-pivot system.

However, for Merino to join Barcelona, an existing player would need to leave, with Frenkie de Jong being one of the potential candidates for departure.

Previously, it has been reported that Barcelona are keen on strengthening their attack this summer, with Nico Williams and Dani Olmo identified as the primary targets.

This focus on offensive reinforcements has made it challenging for the club to consider adding a new defensive midfielder due to financial constraints. Signing a third player could strain their budget significantly.

In recent updates, it has been revealed that Merino is no longer the top priority for Barcelona. While the club is still interested in him, they are not actively pursuing the deal at the moment.

Instead, Barcelona’s management, led by Joan Laporta, has decided to focus on securing their main targets, Nico and Olmo, before turning their attention back to the defensive midfield position.