[dropcap]A[/dropcap]lmost a week ago to the day, a 3-2 win in Warsaw sealed Sevilla’s Europa League honour for the second year in a row. Unai Emery’s side beat FC Dnipro with the help of two goals from their talisman Carlos Bacca, which took their fourth European trophy back to Seville.
Whilst the Europa League trophy took Sevilla ahead of three-time winners Juventus and Inter Milan, it also put their best assets in the limelight, in this case Carlos Bacca and Unai Emery.
Not many will be looking to leave Los Rojiblancos this summer, however with it rumoured that Emery’s impressive project since joining in 2013 could be over, it might be considerably less appealing for the playing stars to stay. The star man in question, Carlos Bacca, has also just completed his second season in Seville after joining for just €7 million from Club Brugge.
The 28-year-old Colombian started his career at Atletico Junior of Barranquilla in Colombia, and had numerous successful loan spells across the continent before making his way to European football. He then scored 28 goals in 45 games in Belgium before making the step up to a top European league in the form of Spain’s La Liga.
Bacca’s career has been very progressive up to this point, which begs the question of whether he should take his next step now, during what most would consider as the ‘prime’ of his career. The striker’s impressive end to the season has attracted interest from the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool, and whilst this might be hard to ignore, Bacca is left with the decision of whether to ‘stick’ or ‘twist’.
While most see a prospective move as logical, the Colombian might consider a stay in Seville – owed to the club’s participation in the Champions League in the coming season – a fresh challenge.
Bacca’s agent, Sergio Barila, has not been muted on the situation and has publicly said, “Carlos wants to stay in Europe, and next year Sevilla play in the Champions League and he would be happy to play there with Sevilla”. However, the agent also commented that if the player was made available by the club then he has “more chances” of playing in Serie A than in any other competition.
The Colombian reportedly has a €30 million release clause inserted in his contract which, if asked to be met, could easily put off potential suitors given the player’s age.
Sevilla need to decide themselves whether they are prepared to make extensive attempts to keep the striker, which they are similarly doing with manager Unai Emery.
Sources in Seville have indicated that Emery would be more prepared to stay, upon the guarantee that their squad would not be cherry-picked.
Perhaps the question is, Unai Emery: stick or twist? as much as it is for Bacca.
If Bacca does decide to leave, a move to United could seal a similar fate to fellow countryman Radamel Falcao, who failed to make adequate impact, whilst a move to Liverpool would ensue the impossible task of replacing Luis Suárez.
Bacca scored 20 goals for Sevilla this season and would definitely be valuable for any team that he lines up for next season, however, the striker needs to decide what represents the best value for him.
With the Copa América on the horizon, it is sure to be a busy summer for the striker and he has some tough decisions to make – does he follow a similar path to the likes of Soldado and Negredo, or does he repay the club that have already provided him with two major honours?
One thing that we can be sure of is that the Bacca will be a very prominent figure in European football next season.
