The English football market had a margin for the closing of its summer window of two more hours so that those clubs with the most advanced negotiations could settle their contracts. But the leaders of the Premier League could well have extended the term several weeks more, that Gareth Bale and Philippe Coutinho would follow in their respective gold cages. Neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona received concrete offers for two players signed in their day at the price of world stars, and for which today few clubs are willing to open the safe to take on their generous chips. Both Bale and Coutinho charge around 12 million euros net per year.

The most worrying case is that of the Welsh striker. "It is not personal. But if Bale leaves tomorrow, better for everyone, ”said Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid coach, on July 21 in Houston after losing to Bayern. But the white club and the Jiangsu Suning of the Chinese Super League did not agree on the transfer. And Bale, who intended to charge about 25 million euros net per year, was not too involved in his departure.

After six seasons in which he has won 13 titles with Madrid, Bale seems willing to follow his own. That is, in his mansion of the urbanization of La Finca improving his swing , without taking into account that Zidane has long since put the cross and that his role in the team is at stake.

Once the Premier market has been ventilated, only three clubs could still face the contractual conditions of a Bale that rejects the transfer as an escape route. However, neither Bayern, nor Juventus, nor the PSG have gone to Madrid in search of reaching any agreement. Bale would always have the option of waiting patiently for the opening of the winter market.

Gareth Frank Bale, 30, has scored 102 goals in 231 games with the white shirt. But once the credit was lost in a club where he was overprotected, and also devalued in the market (its value is already 60 million euros according to Transfermarkt), the words of his agent language reverberate on the walls of the Bernabéu. "Bale has a contract until 2022 and will be available to Zidane." Like it or not.

Bartomeu's border

With Philippe Coutinho the situation is not so tense, although in Barcelona they are aware of having lost a great opportunity with the closing of the Premier market. The great condition imposed by Josep Maria Bartomeu, Barca president, was that the entity could not afford to lose money with the Brazilian. Coutinho, recruited only a year and a half after an unbearable negotiation with Liverpool, became the most expensive signing in culé history (120 million euros plus another 40 in incentives).

The Barcelona managed, yes, to agree with the networks that would pay the contracting in five terms. They still have a little less than 100 million to disburse. And it was there that Bartomeu, also vice president of sports, established the border. As long as, yes, the interested club did not raise the possibility of seizing the Brazilian through a paid transfer. But not even that way.

The Arsenal approach was always the most artificial. With the overcrowded offensive zone, neither Unai Emery was fit for the incorporation of Coutinho, nor its leaders the economic parameters in which the operation moved. Yes, there was something beyond Tottenham last Tuesday. But, beyond that the true interest of the group that directs Pochettino was the Betic Lo Celso, the intermediaries found that Coutinho had no intention of knowing the New White Hart Lane or aligning with the current runner-up in Europe.

A door for Neymar

«Of course I count on him. We do not know what is going to happen, but it is with us, ”said Valverde at dawn on Thursday, after Barcelona beat Miami in Naples (2-1) in the first of his two friendlies against Ancelotti's team. Coutinho did not even dress, although neither did Arturo Vidal and Arthur, with the preseason just started for his participation in the Copa América.

But Barcelona does not give up. There are still those who continue to see the door of Neymar and the PSG ajar, and Coutinho is still a piece with which Barcelona would face the negotiation. The big problem for Barcelona is the poor relationship it has with Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and his men, who would always prioritize a Brazilian's departure to Real Madrid.

The PSG, by the way, starts Ligue 1 next Sunday in the Parc des Princes in front of the Nimes. And nothing changes.

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