New Talk Of Zuniga's Barcelona Release Clause

Apparently today is "let's recycle six month old rumors and hope no one notices" day. So far there's been chatter linking Napoli to Alvaro Morata, Javier Mascherano, Maxime Gonalons, and talk of exits for Marek Hamsik, Gonzalo Higuain, and Gokhan Inler. I get that it's a Champions League matchday, but come on, at least make something up that we haven't heard a hundred times in the past year.

This particular gem that's been gaining traction today is fresh talk of Camilo Zuniga and his release clause. Not the €30 million release clause that anyone can trigger that we've known about since he signed his new contract. No, this is about the top-secret Barcelona specific release clause that we've known about since... well, not long after he signed his new contract.

The exact amount of Barca's release clause varies from report to report, with some claiming as low as €15 million and others as high as €25 million. Either way, the Catalan giants (who recently had their transfer ban for unethical youth recruitment "suspended" by UEFA pending further review) can get Zuniga for less than his full release clause. That's kind of annoying, to be honest, but if Zuniga wants to go there some day and putting that clause in is what got him to sign his new deal, so be it.

Supposedly Barcelona's decision-makers are considering triggering that clause this summer to bring in a player that some supposedly think of as Dani Alves' long term replacement. Besides that thought being hilarious, it's strange for two reasons; first, that Zuniga at 28 is only two years younger than Alves' 30, so his "term" isn't really much longer than the Brazilian's.

Secondly, Barcelona have this kid, you may have heard of him, Martin Montoya. He's pretty good. Really good, actually. As in, "could start at right back for all but a few teams in Europe" good. They just recently signed Montoya to a new deal that will keep him there until 2018 with a fairly large release clause of his own, so bringing in someone to ostensibly start over him once Alves is gone seems... ill advised.

Basically, this should be considered a non-story. Barca have bigger fish to fry with what will supposedly be limited transfer funds this summer, and it makes little sense from any angle for them to go after Zuniga. If they do want him for some reason, well sure, they can give Napoli a nice big pile of money for a player who's barely played in the last year thanks to a knee injury. Because why not.