José Alberto Defends Salinas Amid Transfer Speculation

José Alberto is not in the mood for a summer sale.

Racing Santander’s head coach has pushed back hard against the noise around Salinas, the 19-year-old left-back who has gone from academy prospect to one of the most coveted defenders in Europe in the space of a year.

Fresh from driving Racing’s promotion to La Liga and shining in Spain’s European Under-19 Championship triumph, Salinas has become a headline name in a window that usually belongs to established stars. Manchester United see him as a live solution. Barcelona see him as the future. Racing, though, see him as non-negotiable.

At least, that is the message from the touchline.

“They’re our players”

Speaking after a pre-season meeting with Alavés, Alberto could barely hide his irritation at the constant speculation swirling around his dressing room.

“What surprises me is that people are constantly talking about the departure of two of our players [Salinas and Gustavo Puerta], when they have contracts and are our players,” he said.

For Alberto, this is not just about transfer strategy. It is about protecting the core of a group that has just climbed back into the elite and is now bracing for the jump in level. Salinas is central to that plan.

“They’re very important to us. I don’t want them to leave. And they show every day that they don’t either,” he added.

That last line matters. Inside the club, the message is clear: the teenager is not agitating for a move. He is training, playing, and preparing for his first La Liga campaign as if the outside world does not exist.

But the outside world does exist. And it comes with release clauses.

“We know how this world works and there are release clauses. If a team comes along and pays the clause, they cease to be our players,” Alberto admitted, laying out the reality that sits beneath the defiance.

United, Barcelona and a €16m decision

Manchester United have already moved Salinas high up their list. With a deal for Lewis Hall from Newcastle stalling and Luke Shaw’s injury record forcing long-term thinking at left-back, United have identified the Racing defender as a primary alternative and a ready-made deputy.

The Premier League club are prepared, reports say, to go straight for the kill: trigger the €16m release clause and cut through any negotiation.

Barcelona’s approach has been different. The Catalan club have tracked Salinas for months, viewing him as an ideal long-term answer to their lingering vacancy at left-back. Their scouts have watched him dominate the flank in the Segunda División, then carry that form onto the international stage with Spain’s Under-19s.

The admiration is genuine. The problem is financial.

To get him out of Santander, any club must pay the full €16m clause. United can. Barcelona, hamstrung by their accounts, have tried to be creative — structured offers, performance-related bonuses, loan players folded into the package. Racing, aware of the market and of their player’s rising stock, have so far stood firm.

No discounts. No favours. Not for an academy graduate who has just led them back to the big time.

“There’s little you can do if a giant appears”

If Alberto speaks from the dugout, Chema Aragón speaks from the balance sheet.

Racing’s sporting director knows exactly where the club sit in the food chain. He also knows what it would mean to keep this group together for at least one full season in La Liga.

“There’s little you can do if a giant appears,” Aragón admitted, addressing the interest from clubs of United and Barça’s size.

“We value the assets we have, we consider them important. For the club, at this time, there is no other option than to try to strengthen the team and not weaken it by losing stars.”

That is the tightrope. Racing want to build, not break apart. They want Salinas bombing up and down the left at the Bernabéu and Camp Nou, not watching from a bench in Manchester or Barcelona.

But Aragón did not pretend romance beats finance.

“The reality is that the club that wants him has to come along with an offer. Hopefully he stays. It would be our dream. We’re going to try everything we can to make it happen, just like we did in the winter with Gustavo Puerta. But it’s also true that if significant offers come in, it will be more complicated.”

In one breath, the dream. In the next, the warning.

A teenager in demand, a club under siege

Salinas is handling it all with a calm that belies his age. He continues to feature heavily in pre-season, a fixture in Alberto’s plans as Racing tune up for their return to the top flight.

He already has a Segunda División title in his pocket. He already has a European Under-19 Championship winners’ medal, where his performances for Spain only inflated his value and drew more scouts to Racing’s games.

He also has time. His contract runs until June 2029, giving Racing leverage that many promoted clubs can only envy.

For now, the left-back looks settled. He trains in Santander. He prepares for La Liga. He gives no public sign that he is pushing for Old Trafford, Camp Nou or anywhere else.

But clauses do not care about sentiment, and Europe’s elite rarely take no for an answer when they truly commit to a target. The deadline will come, the phone will ring, and someone will decide whether this is just another transfer rumour or the moment Racing’s young cornerstone walks out of El Sardinero for good.