Barcelona have ‘almost ruled out’ the signing of €40 million-rated midfielder

Last night, there was a meeting between Barcelona officials Mateu Alemany, Deco, Rafa Yuste and Portuguese superagent Jorge Mendes.

Several topics such as the futures of Ansu Fati and Nico Gonzalez, the renewals of Alejandro Balde and Lamine Yamal were on the agenda, along with the possible transfer of Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves.

The 26-year-old Portuguese international is harbouring hopes of a move to Barça even though the La Liga champions do not see him as a priority target. In fact, despite Xavi and the coaching staff not rating him highly, personal terms have already been agreed between the player and the club.

However, according to SPORT, during the meeting, Barcelona officials informed Mendes that the signing of Neves is ‘almost ruled out’ as they do not intend to pay any transfer fee for his capture.

There had been talks of a possible player exchange deal involving Ansu Fati plus the Premier League club paying around €30 million. However, the 20-year-old La Masia ace has made it clear that he does not wish to join Wolves and is not even thinking about leaving the Blaugrana.

While the club remain intent on offloading Fati, the possibility of him moving to Wolves is off the table. As such, the La Liga champions are now not considering a move for Neves, whose market value stands at €40 million, as an option.

Barça do not see investing money in the 26-year-old as an option when he is not even preferred by the coaching staff as a solution for the pivot midfield position.

As such, they have informed Mendes that the possibility of them signing Neves are very slim at the moment.

With a move for Joshua Kimmich also off the table and Martin Zubimendi’s signing also seen as very difficult, Barcelona are looking at other options, but Neves is no longer among them.

Player valuation in title obtained from transfermarkt.com on date of publication.