Barcelona sporting director Deco is finding creative ways to reinforce the first team squad while navigating the club’s financial limitations, and one of his new policies is to sign young, promising players from around the world. And after recently completing the signing of Roony Bardghji, he appears to have a new target.
According to a report from Mundo Deportivo, Barça’s scouts have been “closely following” the development of 18-year-old Fluminense winger Riquelme Felipe for the last year, and there
is serious interest from the Blaugrana in his services.
After missing out on Brazilian wonderkid Estêvão, who chose Chelsea over Barça a year ago, Deco is looking to find the next great Brazilian winger, and Riquelme — who is named after the Argentine superstar and former Barça midfielder — seems to have all of the qualities the Barça executive is looking for.
Riquelme, who has played 17 times for Fluminense’s first team since January, is your classic Brazilian winger: slight frame, quick, loves one-on-one duels, is tremendously skilled, and uses his left foot to fire shots on goal and assist his teammates.
The report says there is a special clause in Riquelme’s contract that allows foreign clubs to sign him for free in March of next year, so European teams can negotiate for a lower amount now to give Fluminense some compensation and still get the youngster on a cheaper deal.
There will be massive competition from other big clubs in the continent, but Deco is hoping that the long-standing interest and the appeal of playing for the mighty Barça would help convince Riquelme to join the club. We’ll wait to see if an actual negotiation takes place, but this one is worth monitoring.
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