Barcelona snubbed by €18m top target for Real Madrid, €20m+ ace hopeful deal done this week

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Barcelona have reportedly been snubbed by Dani Ceballos, as he’s now expected to complete an €18m move to Real Madrid next week.

The Spain U21s starlet shone at the recent European Championship in Poland, and in turn he attracted plenty of interest from elsewhere as Real Betis faced a real battle to keep him.

According to Marca, it looks as though he’s chosen Madrid, as it’s reported that he will complete a move for around €18m, just over his €15m release clause, and he will undergo a medical on Monday before putting pen-to-paper on a six-year contract.

In addition, he’ll now be expected to join up with his new teammates by July 20 as they head Stateside for their pre-season tour, and his arrival undoubtedly makes it very cramped at Madrid with countless options now at Zinedine Zidane’s disposal as sales will be expected.

While Barcelona may well have missed out on Ceballos, it appears as though another target is confident that he will complete a move to the Nou Camp by next week.

Paulinho has been discussing a possible switch to the Catalan giants, and is hopeful that despite seeing Guangzhou Evergrande reject a €20m bid for him already, that the two clubs will be able to come to an agreement in order for him to seal a return to Europe.

“I hope that if Barca return, Guangzhou will be flexible and the signing can be closed,” he told Mundo Deportivo.

“It is a unique opportunity for me to be able to play for Barça, the best team in the world and surrounded by the best players. I have to talk to my president, but since I got the proposal from Barça I have not stopped thinking about it and I am waiting for everything to be resolved this week.

“I asked my agent to speed everything up so that everything is resolved this week, because the deadline for signings in China is coming up and while it won’t affect me leaving, it will impact on Guangzhou in terms of signing my replacement. If the two clubs reach an agreement, my part with Barca will be very easy.”

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