£18 million defender Guillermo Maripan wants to stay at Monaco this summer despite rumoured interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, the Chile international’s agent has told La Cuarta.
The arrival of Niko Kovac as head coach does not appear to bode well for a 6ft 4ins man mountain who only moved to the Principality last year in a big money deal from Alaves.
Eurosport claims that Maripan is not in the plans of the ex-Bayern Munich and Croatia boss.
And, with the 26-year-old playing just 15 minutes of football during Kovac’s first two Ligue 1 games at the helm, it seems those suggestions were right on the money.
Yet a warrior like Maripan was never going to down tools and accept his fate. This is a man ready to fight for his life at the Stade Louis II.
“Maripan is an important player for Monaco and they have made that known to him,” claims Jose Lorenzo Jimenez. “He is calm, he wants to stay at the club, unless a very valuable offer arrives.
“They are very confident in the role he has in this sporting project.
“We do not know of the interest of (Spanish giants) Valencia, nobody has informed us anything and they have not communicated with me either. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was that way either. Guillermo is of great interest to the important teams in Europe and, in that sense, Valencia fits the bill.”
As well as Valencia, Tottenham and Newcastle have both been linked, via CDF.
Steve Bruce’s Newcastle appear to be prioritising players with a proven track record in the Premier League, however, with Arsenal’s Rob Holding lined up to join Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser and Jeff Hendrick at St James’ Park.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
