Barcelona could sign Premier League midfielder on loan in January with superagent’s help

As reported earlier today, Barcelona are intent on signing a new midfielder in the upcoming January transfer window.

The Catalans are concerned by captain Sergio Busquets’ recent displays and want to sign a player who can provide cover and compete with the veteran before eventually replacing him.

Several names are on the radars of the Blaugrana, including PSV Eindhoven’s Ibrahim Sangare. But the most heavily-linked player so far has been Wolves and Portugal midfielder, Ruben Neves.

The 25-year-old Premier League midfielder has been on Barça’s agenda for a long time now. He was linked with a move to Spotify Camp Nou during the last summer window as well but the transfer did not materialise and he stayed put at Wolves.

However, he will be entering the final year of his contract with the Midlands club next summer and has shown no indication of wanting to sign an extension.

Amidst this, his agent, Jorge Mendes, who has strong ties with the Barcelona management, is reportedly believed to have offered Neves to the Catalan club already.

Now, Mundo Deportivo is reporting that the superagent could further help the Blaugrana to land Neves as early as the January transfer window, by working out a loan-to-buy arrangement with Wolves.

The 25-year-old Portuguese international is valued at €40 million currently but the report states that Mendes could help engineer a loan move to Barcelona in the winter window with a mandatory purchase clause inserted for the summer of 2023.

It is further claimed that Neves is keen on leaving Wolves and Mendes is working to facilitate a transfer to Camp Nou, with Barcelona evaluating the possibility of signing the former FC Porto star.

Barça had signed Adama Traore on a loan deal from Wolves last January but decided against signing him permanently, with the winger returning to the Molineux. Unlike that operation, Neves’ deal could have a mandatory obligation for Barcelona to sign him permanently.

However, at this point, it is all speculation and it remains to be seen how the La Liga giants go about their plans for the winter window.