Barcelona have reportedly expressed an interest in signing 16-year-old Argentine prodigy Gonzalo Sosa, who is also wanted by Real Madrid and Manchester United.
According to a report from Spanish publication Fichajes, La Liga heavyweights Barcelona have entered the fray to sign teenage prospect Gonzalo Sosa from Argentine outfit Racing Club, with the young midfielder also being tracked by Real Madrid and Manchester United.
Sosa, who turned 16 earlier this month, is a product of the Racing Club academy and currently plays for their Under-20 outfit, despite his young age. The report describes the teenage sensation as a player blessed with great vision and ball control along with possessing the ability to hit the target from distance.
Still very much in his developmental years at 16, Sosa seems to be making all the right noises as scouts from a host of European clubs have now taken note of the Argentine, including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United.
? [AS?] | Barça, ahead of Madrid in the race for Racing de Avellaneda's 16-year-old attacker Gonzalo Sosa, nicknamed 'El Talentoso' pic.twitter.com/RueVXm5nh6
— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) March 17, 2021
Barcelona have had the history of churning out some of the best young talents in football from their famed La Masia academy. And while the focus had shifted from promoting youth in recent years, that seems to have changed again with the likes of Ansu Fati, Pedri, Oscar Mingueza and Ilaix Moriba all enjoying significant roles in the current first-team setup.
So, it should not come as a surprise that the Catalans are looking at recruiting young jewels like Sosa in order to bolster their academy ranks and push them out into the first-team picture down the line. However, they are likely to face intense competition from bitter rivals Real Madrid in pursuit of the 16-year-old prodigy.
Real Madrid have had recent history of bringing in hot prospects of South American football into the club with the likes of Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior and most recently Reinier Jesus all making their way to the club and growing into first-team members, at least in the case of the former two, while Reinier currently serves a loan spell away.
And it seems like the Merengues are planning to continue the tradition, having been keeping tabs on Sosa, while also being linked with another special talent from Argentina in the form of Maximo Perrone.
Apart from Barcelona and Real Madrid, Manchester United are also in the hunt for Sosa, the report mentions. The Red Devils have once again turned towards promoting youth into the first-team under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and have been aggressively recruiting to bolster their under-age squads over the past year.
The likes of Joe Hugill, Willy Kambwala, ex-Real Madrid youngster Alvaro Fernandez, former Barcelona academy man Marc Jurado are among a host of youth players to have made their way to Carrington in recent times, United have recently been linked to Isak Bergmann Johannesson as well, with Sosa being the latest youngster on their radars.
It is also claimed that both Bayern Munich and Juventus are also tracking Sosa, along with the aforementioned three clubs. It now remains to be seen of any of these sides launch a move for the 16-year-old in the near future.
