Wissam Ben Yedder of Monaco is looming as one of the top names in the next transfer window with several big teams reportedly tracking him. This is even though the 30-year-old was signed only last summer and owns a contract until 2024.
Yedder will turn 30 in August but his performance is hard to overlook. He has proven to be a reliable scorer for Monaco, scoring 171 times in 366 appearances for Toulouse Sevilla and Monaco. The French striker is enjoying the best season of his career, producing 70 goals with Sevilla before returning to Ligue 1.
According to L'Equippe, the clubs interested in getting Yedder include Manchester City, Tottenham, Atletico Madrid, and Valencia. Being under contract, teams will have to shell out £40 million to get him to their side. Considering most teams are looking for essential cost-wise deals, getting Yedder makes sense.
Aside from the aforementioned teams, Barcelona is another club interested in the French striker. Talks started since last summer with Yedder revealing that he had Barca got the necessary information from him but nothing went down.
"Barcelona could have happened much earlier for me," Yedder said to Onze Mundial. "Last summer they made contacts for me, they collected a lot of information about me and the same was true this winter, but the move did not happen."
With nothing definite, Yedder plans to focus and play his best with Les Monegasques. There is plenty of uncertainty looming in the air due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tied up to that are the plans of clubs next transfer window. Before the coronavirus, there were teams like Chelsea FC expected to spend big. But that was before games were called off, translating to lost revenue.
For Yedder, it could be one of two things. The fact that his release clause fee is not that expensive could make him a viable target by teams who still plan to bring in some players. That is unless Monaco ups their asking price to make sure that interest in the 30-year-old will be off the table.
For Barcelona, they still have the right amount of talent to survive another season with their current talent. Rather than target players from other teams, they are likely to focus on contract renewals with current players and try to convince them to stay for at least a year.
It could work for both players and clubs. The fact that spending is projected to be at a minimum hint that all blockbuster plans must be held off for now. But the story will be different once all is settled and football action is back to normal.
