Athletic Bilbao have confirmed that striker Fernando Llorente won’t be renewing his contract with the club, paving the way for a move to Juventus” data-scaytid=”2″>Juventus.
The Spaniard has been in talks with the San Mames outfit this summer over an extension on his current deal that runs until June 2013.
Athletic Bilbao have confirmed that striker Fernando Llorente won’t be renewing his contract with the club, paving the way for a move to Juventus.
The Spaniard has been in talks with the San Mames outfit this summer over an extension on his current deal that runs until June 2013.
However, reports indicated that too much of a distance between what the club were offering and what the player wanted and a difficult relationship with Marcelo Bielsa were to blame for delays in his renewal.
Club President Josu Urrutia has confirmed today in a Press conference that the player now won’t be re-signing with the club and that Llorente made clear his intentions to them 10 days ago.
Urrutia described the news as an ‘institutional failure’ but denied that the player’s desire to now leave was just down to money.
“This is not a choice made over economics, but for a collection of reasons and what weighed heavily was he wanted to play in other competitions. I communicated my disappointment,” Urrutia told the Spanish Press today.
The President also confirmed that the player would only be sold now for an offer at his valuation, believed to be €30m, specifically stating that ‘€12m, €14m or €16m would not be a comfort’.
Juventus are understood to be in prime contention for the striker’s signature, but face competition from English side Tottenham Hotspur.