Barcelona’s 24-year-old academy graduate receives two tempting offers from Turkey

With Barcelona looking to clear out the deadwood from their squad in the coming days, one of the players bound for the exit doors is academy graduate Alex Collado.

The 24-year-old was regarded as a special talent coming through the ranks at La Masia but his transition to senior football has not been entirely successful.

Collado has spent the past 18 months away on loan from Barça – first a six-month stint with Granada followed by an entire season at Elche. Both spells were quite underwhelming, with the latter one being hampered by injuries.

Set to return to Barcelona for pre-season next week, Collado just has a year left on his contract and has no part in Xavi’s plans for the upcoming campaign.

With an exit looming, Gabriel Sans of Mundo Deportivo is now reporting that the 24-year-old has two tempting offers from Turkey, with Besiktas and Antalyaspor interested in securing his services this summer.

Given that he has just a year left on his contract, Barça would be open to the idea of letting him leave as a free agent by handing him a letter of freedom. It would allow Collado to earn a good deal for himself with a potential signing-on bonus.

As for Barça, they would be saving around €2 million in wages and other payments even though they would not be receiving any transfer fee for him.

Apart from the two clubs in Turkey interested in him, there have been suggestions that newly-promoted La Liga club, Las Palmas, are also keen on Collado. Given that they are managed by former Barça Atletic boss Garcia Pimienta, playing under a familiar face could appeal to him.

So, it will be interesting to see whether Collado chooses to continue in Spain or accept the tempting proposals from either Besiktas or Antalyaspor.