Last week, there were hectic meetings at Villareal. Last summer, the club sold top scorer Alexander Sørloth, now the club could sell its third highest scoring player Alex Baena. One club was willing to write a new sales record for Villareal by triggering a buyout clause of 60 million euros.
There was an offer to buy Álex Baena this summer as well, but the thought of selling both a striker and a left winger in the same window scared the management of Villarreal. La Liga, the club that has been struggling for a few years, made a profit last year due to the profit they made from the sale of Alexander Sørloth to Atlético Madrid (and Filip Jørgensen to Chelsea).
Villarreal bought Sørloth for €10 million from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2023 and resold for €32 million. Álex Baena, which is “homegrown”, had several clubs knocking on the gates of the Estadio El Madrigal with very tempting offers. Sørloth left, Baena stayed.
Villarreal have made it clear that they will not be pressured when negotiating for Álex Baena, one of the great gems of their academy. At just 23 years old, the Almería-born striker has become a key player in the yellow team’s attacking play.
Then a Saudi Arabian club knocked on the door last week and was willing to fork out 60 million euros, Relevo reported. The Villareal management was given a financial opportunity they could not refuse, but now the Spanish media reports that it was a complete stop. Alex Baena refused to leave the UEFA region. He will play for a big European club if he is to leave Villareal. Even an annual salary of a wild 17 million euros did not make the 23-year-old change his mind.
Baena has attracted interest from Atlético de Madrid, who see him as both a potential successor to Antoine Griezmann and as a partner to Alexander Sørloth.
