Manchester City are now leading the chase to sign talented Argentine teenager Valentin Barco.
That’s according to Julio Pavoni, journalist at TyC Sports.
City have so far signed two players this summer, midfielder Mateo Kovacic and centre-back Josko Gvardiol.
The treble winners are also in talks to bring in more attacking reinforcements in the shape of Lucas Paqueta and Jeremy Doku, following the departures of Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez and the serious hamstring injury sustained by Kevin de Bruyne.
City always have an eye on the future though, and appear to have identified another gem.
City keen on Valentin Barco
According to Julio Pavoni, City are now the ‘strongest club’ in the battle to sign Boca Juniors left-back Valentin Barco.
Jack Gaughan has reported that City have a concrete interest in activating the £8m release clause in the 19-year-old’s contract, although it’s not clear whether he would be immediately integrated into Guardiola’s squad upon arrival.
Brighton are keen to sign the Argentina U20 star, but their initial offer was rejected by Boca as it was less than the release clause.
As reported by Pavoni, City – rather than City Football Group – are now thought to be in pole position to sign Barco and are expected to make an ‘important offer’ in the coming days.
The journalist stressed that if City do sign Barco, then he would remain with Boca until December so that he can play in the remainder of the 2023 Copa Libertadores.
City had a similar agreement in place with River Plate when they signed Julian Alvarez last year, although they ended up bringing his arrival forward to the summer.
Barco – once described as a “great player” by Boca teammate Frank Fabra when he was just 17 – is one of the brightest young talents in the Argentine game.
City have had their eye on Barco for a while and were linked with him in 2021, the year he broke into the Boca first-team and became the club’s fourth-youngest player in history.
The youngster is represented by Adrian Ruocco, Carlos Tevez’s old agent.
