Barcelona are reportedly keeping tabs on Marseille youngster Maxime Lopez, with the teenager said to have impressed the club’s scouts.
After what was a bitterly frustrating summer transfer window in the sense that the Catalan giants were unable to land their top targets, Ernesto Valverde was still able to welcome key signings to the squad.
However, as noted by Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona have plans to further strengthen his squad moving forward as Lopez has caught their eye and has been closely monitored after impressing scouts.
The 19-year-old’s technical quality and style of play are pinpointed in the report as being key reasons behind Barca’s interest, and so perhaps he will emerge as an alternative to the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Angel Di Maria, who are both specifically mentioned as targets that got away.
Meanwhile, it’s added that discussions already took place between Barca officials and Lopez’s representatives earlier this summer. However, that was with the view of signing him next summer in mind as they wish to put in place an agreement to ensure that they don’t miss out on him.
It seems like sensible business from Barcelona, as they will want to avoid any further transfer sagas dragging out for an entire summer.
Elsewhere, Mundo Deportivo also report that Paris Saint-Germain star Julian Draxler told his Germany teammates that he was holding out for a move to the Nou Camp this summer.
Despite the fact that the 23-year-old was heavily linked with a move to Arsenal as deadline-day drew closer, it’s claimed in this report that Barca were his preferred destination as he believed that the Catalan outfit could swoop if they missed out on Coutinho and Di Maria.
Evidently that failed to materialise, although it’s added that his agent, Roger Wittmann, even went to Spain twice this past summer to offer Draxler’s services to Barca.
Time will tell if he gets playing time at PSG after the summer signings of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, with Edinson Cavani expected to complete what looks to be a deadly attacking trident.