In a bizarre misjudgement from Valencia, Real Madrid and Barcelona have reportedly been handed an opportunity to land a highly-rated youngster from their rivals.
Both Madrid and Barca are arguably in need of a long-term vision to ensure that beyond the current cycle of success, they have the pieces in place to sustain their level of performance.
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They’ve taken steps in that direction, with Sky Sports noting that youngster Vinicius Junior is heading to the Bernabeu, while their bitter rivals have signed the likes of Yerry Mina, Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele in the past 12 months.
Of course, they both still have world-class players at their disposal currently, but building for the future could be key for them to ensure that replacements are ready.
With that in mind, it appears as though they could be on a collision course for a talented youngster this summer, with Marca reporting that they’ve both set their sights on Valencia starlet Jose Pascual Alba, with the 18-year-old still coming through the youth ranks at the club.
However, it’s claimed by Marca that the situation has arisen as Valencia astonishingly believed his contract expired next summer, when in fact it runs down this year, and so it has left them open to the setback of losing Alba for free.
Snapping up a talented young player for no fee seems like a no-brainer for either side if they have been left impressed by his early performances, and it looks as though Valencia could be the ones to lose out if they are unable to agree on new terms with the young midfielder.