Celta Vigo president Carlos Mourino says he expects reported Manchester City and Barcelona target Nolito to leave the club this summer, although only after the Spain attacker's €18 million release clause has been met.
Nolito has often been linked with a move away from Celta in recent years and was reportedly close to rejoining former club Barcelona during the January transfer window, only for the Camp Nou outfit to baulk at paying the full €18m fee demanded by the Galician club.
Speaking from the Spain camp at the Euros in France this week, Nolito said that the first he had heard of any Manchester City interest had been from a reporter after Monday's 1-0 opening Group D game against the Czech Republic, adding that he was not worried about his future at the moment.
But on a visit to Mexico, Celta chief Mourino told Reporte Jalisco that his club had already got a lot out of Nolito, who has scored 39 goals in three seasons at Balaidos, and that he expects the 29-year-old to move on elsewhere.
"I believe Nolito will leave this year," Mourino said. "He is playing well, one of the players we have got a lot out of. One of those players who was at a lower level and we were able to bring him back up again."
Celta would not even enter negotiations over a lower fee however, Mourino said, and would stick firmly to the €18m figure in Nolito's contract.
"Nolito's contract has a clause of €18m," he said. "Whoever pays that can take him. There is no [room for] negotiations -- we will not sell for less than €18m.
"If anybody pays the clause, we must let him go, whether we like it or not. If that happens, then fine, [although] he is a great player, and has three years left on his contract with us."
During last January's transfer window Barcelona were heavily linked with a move to sign Nolito, who was at the Camp Nou for three seasons earlier in his career, but left for Benfica in 2011 and has also played for Granada on a slow rise back to the top of the game.
"I believe it was real, yes [Barca] wanted him, but there was no agreement," Mourino added.