No Gomez giveaway, says Celta chief

  • by Staff Writer
  • Tuesday, 18th June 2019

The President of Celta Vigo has told potential suitors that they will need to match or come close to Maxi Gomez's minimum release fee in order for bids to be taken seriously.

Both West Ham and Valencia were reported to have made offers in the region of £25million for the 22-year-old forward at the weekend, neither of which were accepted by a club that narrowly avoided relegation to the Segunda Division.

And with both clubs some considerable way short of Celta's €50million release clause, President Carlos Mourino has told both West Ham and Valencia that they will need to effectively double their offers in order to be considered.

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"We are not going to give away Maxi," Mourino told reporters in the wake of the bids. "The teams that want him have to start looking at the clause, from which we can negotiate - but on an equal basis, not with one club that considers itself superior to the other."

And Mourino also dismissed reports that Gomez had already agreed personal terms with fellow La Liga side Valencia, who the player is thought to favour. "No matter how much agreement Valencia says it has with Maxi, if it does not have it with Celta it can do very little," he added.

Los Ches are understood to be Gomez's first choice due to the fact that he is settled in Spain, where he has lived for the last two years, and because Valencia can offer him Champions League football.

Celta's interest in Valencia striker Santi Mina also gives the Spanish club an advantage in the race to sign Gomez, who was an unused substitute for Uruguay on Sunday night in their opening fixture of the Cope America in which they beat Ecuador 4-0.

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Mourino issued a further word of warning to Valencia, insisting that Celta would not go to unreasonable lengths in order to secure the capture of the 23-year-old Mina. "We believe he [Mina] is a good player," he added, "but we will not sign him at any price. We have our limitations regarding salaries and investments."

Gomez has been continuously linked with a move to West Ham for almost a year, since it was initially suggested last August that the Hammers had made an £27million bid for his services (Evening Standard).

* In other transfer news West Ham United have told Manchester United that they have no interest in selling French central defender Issa Diop, who arrived at the club via Toulouse a year ago in a £22million deal.

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