AFPInter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni is seen as the main target to bolster Barcelona’s defence in the upcoming summer transfer window.
This deal has gone from “almost impossible” to “possible” due to his sudden drop in popularity in his home country of Italy.
Barcelona are looking to bolster their squad with several signings next season, particularly in defence, in order to remain competitive for all domestic and European titles.
Getty Images SportBastoni has faced fierce criticism in Italy over the past two months, following two incidents that have placed him at the centre of a storm.
In mid-February, Bastoni faced widespread condemnation for his decisive role in the sending-off of Juventus player Pierre Kalulu during a match against Juventus.
On the last day of March, the angry Italian football community held him primarily responsible for the Italian national team’s failure to qualify for the World Cup for the third time in a row, after he was sent off during the first half of the decisive match against Bosnia.
Italy were leading 1-0 away in Bosnia before Bastoni was shown a straight red card, complicating matters for the Azzurri in a match that ended in a penalty shoot-out victory for the home side.
Getty Images SportThe fall from grace of the 26-year-old centre-back in Serie A – where he was long regarded as the best defender – is strikingly reminiscent of Luis Suárez’s experience in England following the ‘bite’ he inflicted on Giorgio Chiellini during the Italy v Uruguay match at the 2014 World Cup.
In the space of a short time, the Uruguayan Liverpool striker went from being an untouchable star in the Premier League to a player on the transfer list, a scenario that Barcelona exploited to complete the deal.
Before the most famous “bite” in modern football history, the Suarez deal seemed closer to Real Madrid than to Barcelona, according to the newspaper Mundo Deportivo.
Read also: Italy’s disaster turns into a gift for Barcelona
AFPThe newspaper *Mundo Deportivo* has recounted the behind-the-scenes story of the Suárez transfer, which began on Tuesday 24 June 2014, when Uruguay were playing Italy in the World Cup in Brazil.
Shortly before the end of the match, the Uruguayan striker collided with Italian defender Chiellini and then bit him.
The ensuing scandal was so serious that FIFA swiftly punished Suárez with a nine-match ban, as well as suspending him from all football-related activities for four months.
Just three days later, the very same media outlets in Madrid, which had spent months promoting Suárez’s transfer from Anfield to the Bernabéu, justified the cancellation of the deal by citing the meniscus surgery on his right knee, which the Uruguayan player underwent on 22 May, and which did not prevent him, for example, from taking part in the World Cup a month later.
By that time, Barcelona had been making strenuous efforts to sign Liverpool’s Luis Suárez, who shared the Golden Boot award with Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2013-2014 season thanks to his 31 goals, and who had scored 83 goals in 133 matches for the Reds between 2011 and 2014.
Neither the biting incident nor the suspension changed the plan: Barcelona decided to wait for Luis Suárez, and made this clear to him, unlike Real Madrid.
In February 2024, the player himself recalled that surprise in Miami during the programme ‘La Mesa’, and the Uruguayan striker explained: “Before the 2014 World Cup, Real Madrid wanted to sign me, and everything was going well. They were thinking of selling Karim Benzema to Arsenal; it was all done and dusted.”
His image as a “bad boy” among British fans soon changed the stance of the hardline Liverpool, who renewed their star’s contract in December 2013 until 2018, and who were unofficially asking for more than €100 million before the summer of 2014 when they learned of Real Madrid’s interest.
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AFPOn 11 July 2014, 17 days after the ‘biting’ incident, Barcelona announced the signing of Luis Suárez for €81 million.
To appreciate the “decline” in the value of the deal – which remains substantial – one need only recall what Barcelona paid the same club three and a half years later to sign Brazilian attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho: a fixed fee of €120 million plus €40 million in add-ons.
On 16 July, Barcelona officially presented Suárez, who played for the club until 2020, scoring 198 goals in 283 matches.