Milan want to land Barcelona midfielder Carles Alena in January but the player’s preference is to join a Spanish club, say reports.
Estadio Deportivo say Real Betis, Getafe, Celta Vigo and Granada are the quartet of La Liga clubs who may pursue a deal for the central midfielder.
The 21-year-old La Masia youth graduate made 27 first-team appearances for the club last season after being promoted from their B team.
However, the central midfielder has been frozen out of action for Ernesto Valverde’s team this summer and has not featured since the opening day of the season – a 1-0 loss at Athletic Club Bilbao.
Alena played the first half of that match before being substituted off and has not featured since, with the club well stocked with central midfielders.
Frenkie de Jong, Sergio Busquets, Arturo Vidal and Artur Melo are the first-choice central midfielders at the club, with Ivan Rakitic also not featuring this season with academy product Riqui Puig also said to be favoured among the Blaugrana staff.
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is said to be pushing a deal while Arsenal are another club who are in the running to land Alena in a January deal.
