Manchester United are battling fellow Premier League sides Liverpool and Tottenham for Barcelona defender Marc Bartra, according to Spanish paper Mundo Deportivo.
La Liga sides Sevilla and Valencia are also interested in signing the 25-year-old centre-back, who has been selected in Spain’s squad for Euro 2016.
The defender, who made 13 appearances for the La Liga champions this season, confirmed a few days ago that his release clause, which had been set at €40 million, has now dropped to €8 million after a lack of playing time under Luis Enrique this season.
With Javier Mascherano and Gerard Pique ahead of Bartra in the pecking order, another Spanish paper, SPORT, says that Barcelona will not have a buy-back option on Bartra with the change in release clause, which means they are unlikely to get him back in the future.
During a national team press conference on Sunday, he said (as reported by ESPN):
It’s in the hands of Carles Puyol [Bartra’s agent] and my representatives.
€8 million will certainly be a bargain for a player that has been highly rated by many for some time now, but Bartra will only decide his future after the European Championship in France this summer, but Mundo Deportivo thinks that Valencia are the favourites to capture the signature of the centre-back.
