Tottenham are reportedly also keen on Ajax youngster Frenkie de Jong, joining Barcelona in the battle to land his signature next year.
The 21-year-old has impressed for the Eredivisie giants, featuring regularly last season before injury struck while he has been an ever-present so far this year.
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In turn, it’s no surprise that he’s said to be attracting interest from elsewhere in Europe, with Mundo Deportivo noting that despite long-standing interest from Barcelona, Tottenham are emerging as their most dangerous challengers for his signature in a deal that could cost no less than €50m.
Paris Saint-Germain, Man City and Roma are also all mentioned as possible competition for the Dutchman, and so time will tell which option he chooses to pursue to take the next step in his career, assuming an agreement is reached with Ajax.
As far as Barcelona are concerned, they’ve already overseen plenty of movement in midfield this past summer with the signings of Arthur and Arturo Vidal after losing Andres Iniesta and Paulinho.
De Jong would undoubtedly be another long-term piece in that department if he were to arrive at the Nou Camp, and he could prove to be crucial given the likes of Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Vidal are all now on the wrong side of 30.
Meanwhile, Tottenham didn’t buy a single new player in the summer transfer window, and that could lead to many assuming that Mauricio Pochettino will have funds to spend next year to make up for it.
Time will tell if De Jong is a genuine transfer target and a likely arrival, but given that his technical quality, creativity and all-round game would appear to suit Barcelona perfectly, it seems like a difficult challenge to prise him away from eventually making that move.
As noted by Marca, De Jong hasn’t been shy about publicly discussing a future move to Spain either, and so it remains to be seen if Spurs can persuade him to do otherwise.