First team

CAPARRÓS: "ANDRÉ IS A TOP STRIKER WHO COMPLEMENTS BEN YEDDER, MURIEL AND CARLOS"

14/08/2018

The Director of Football assured the press: "Milan paid 38 million euros last year with the age he has. He reminds me of other players we've had in this profile"

Joaquín Caparrós went over a market of signings this Tuesday following the presentation of André Silva as a Sevilla player though first, he declared his excitement at the newest addition: "He's a footballer that reminds us of others we've had in this profile. But I have to say that we have very good strikers here, like Ben Yedder who scored 22 goals last season. A lot would need to be spent for him to go and we have him here now. We also made a big money effort for Muriel and we have a lot of confidence in him. Alongside Carlos Fernández, who is recovering and has a lot of potential. André is a top player and cost Milan 38 million euros at the age he has. It's true that we were also interested in Batshuayi and we spoke with Chelsea but the player decided to play in the Champions League".

From there, he went on to talk about one possible departure: "Nzonzi wasn't in training with the permission of the Club but there still isn't a 100% deal and until one is signed, there's nothing. It's true there have been negotiations with Monchi but in football these things just happen". On the possibility of reinvesting, he didn't want to jump the gun: "There's no rule of thumb and we'll have to analyse when a player leaves. We'll sit down with the coaching staff and we'll see what's best for the growth of the team".

Turning back to strikers, he made it clear he has faith in Ben Yedder: "It would depend on the offer. If they made a huge offer we would evaluate it but it would have to be a huge offer. We're talking about a player who would have been Champion of the World if a striker in the France squad had suffered a setback. Yesterday he was angry about the penalty but he has to be an important player. The market is another thing if an offer arrives". He promptly moved to the defence: "We've made an important investment and we're happy with what the coach is showing us. But we have a lot of days left and we haven't talked about squad-building because there is an important match on Thursday. If there were an injury, we would adjust ourselves accordingly".

Continuing with familiar names, he spoke about Carlos Fernández: "We're going to see what happens because giving him a squad number is a gesture but he will definitely be in the First Team squad. What we want is him to recover because he's making a tremendous effort and we want him to continue with calm, and fight for a first team spot because of his qualities". He also confirmed there has been a renewal offer for Sarabia: "Sarabia has a improvement clause in his contract. It's a very good improvement, that is clear. They're studying it and they'll decide when to make use of that clause in their own time".

"Sarabia has an improvement clause in his contract, it would be a good improvement"

On the goalkeeper situation: "I can give you fresh information there because the boss tells me he's happy with goalkeepers and there we have to show that we have faith in the academy. We have another Spanish U-21 in Juan Soriano, who would be very valuable if he were from somewhere else. He's enjoying the coach and we're calm because the boss considers the position well covered".

To conclude, he confirmed that, amongst others, Bacca has been offered to the Club: "A lot of offers have come from a lot of footballers that were here and call saying they want to come back. There must be a reason, because people like Seville a lot".