Celta Vigo president Carlos Mouriño has issued a warning to Valencia and West Ham that they will need to up their bids to grab Maxi Gomez.
But he was particularly keen to let the La Liga club know they needed to ‘live up’ to their reputation if they were serious about their interest in the player.
Speaking for the first time on the player’s position he said: ““We aren’t going to give Maxi away, and teams who want him need to start paying attention to the clause.
From there, we can negotiate as equals, not with one party who consider themselves superior to the other.”
It appears to refute suggestions that both ourselves and Valencia were close to completing a deal and all that remained was for Gomez to decide where he sees his future.
Mouriño spoke to the media today and in quotes relayed by Mundo Deportivo is reported as adding that if there was no agreement with Celta Vigo, it doesn’t matter if Gomez agrees terms with a new club.
It’s understood the striker’s release clause is £44.5 million and the president is making it pretty clear that he will expect nothing less before agreeing a deal.
However, it doesn’t seem feasible that he would want an unhappy player on his hands. Gomez could be offered anything up to £100k a week elsewhere and as is often the case player power can settle these affairs.
But he admitted there were talks between the two sides currently ongoing, but there were ‘major differences’ between them.