Barcelona are reportedly eyeing a January swoop for 19-year-old Sidnei Tavares, whose contract with Leicester City runs out in the summer.
According to a report from The Sun, La Liga heavyweights Barcelona are eyeing a raid on Premier League club Leicester City for teenage hotshot Sidnei Tavares in the ongoing January transfer window.
The 19-year-old, who is the cousin of former Manchester United star Nani, has come through the ranks at the Leicester youth academy. Tavares has turned out 41 times for the Foxes’ U18 setup and has made eight appearances for the U23s, four of which have come in the 2019/20 campaign.
Having impressed in the pre-season, Tavares had earned praise from Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers. However, the Northern Irishman is yet to reward the central midfielder with a first-team debut at the club. And, with his contract set to run out at the end of the ongoing season, Barcelona are lining up a raid this month, to snap him up in a cut-price deal.
Barcelona strengthened their midfield unit with the signing of Miralem Pjanic in the summer, although the club did lose veteran stars Arturo Vidal and Ivan Rakitic. Furthermore, Carles Alena has left the Catalans to join Getafe on loan for the rest of the season.
In addition, there are question marks over the future of Riqui Puig, who has been linked with a loan exit as well, even though his contract was recently extended by Barcelona. Should he too leave, even if it is on a temporary basis, the Blaugrana will be light in midfield department and will need to add some cover for the likes of Pjanic, Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets.
To that end, signing someone like Tavares, who can add to the depth of the squad, can be a smart move for Barcelona. Even though he hasn’t played first-team football as of yet, the fact that the likes of Bayern Munich, Juventus, Porto and Celtic are all looking at him, along with Barcelona, gives an indication of the potential he possesses.
Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman has tasted success by banking on youth this season, with the likes of Pedri, Sergino Dest and Oscar Mingueza making quite the impact already. And, Tavares, too, could follow a similar path, should the Catalans be able to swoop him away from Leicester this month.
It is being claimed that there have been no attempts from the Foxes to open a dialogue over a new contract. The report also states that should Barcelona fail to land him in January, they have a gentleman’s agreement with Leicester to snap him up at the end of the season.
So, as things stand, it seems like Tavares could be on his way to Barcelona, either before the end of this month or at the end of the season.
