Chelsea emerge as stiff competition for Barcelona in race for wonderkid | OneFootball

Barcelona have been interested in Ivan Fresneda of Real Valladolid for some time, but are yet to tie up a deal for the teenage prodigy.

The 18-year-old right-back has been linked with tens of clubs over the past six months, but appears to be a top target for new Barcelona Sporting Director Deco.

However the technical staff are keen on a more senior right-back to come in first as a priority, in this case Joao Cancelo of Manchester City. They have left that deal in the hands of Agent Jorge Mendes, but that too is taking several weeks.

Barcelona have reportedly had an offer of €8m plus €5m in variables for Fresneda rejected, while Deco intends to loan him out for this campaign.

On Thursday it emerged that two English clubs and Portuguese giants Sporting CP and Porto were highly interested in Fresneda. Now Sport have confirmed ESPN reports that one of those Premier League sides is Chelsea.

That said, Fabrizio Romano has contradicted those reports, and says that while there are a number clubs interested in him, Chelsea are not one of them.

Fresneda has a release clause of €20m, easily accessible for Chelsea, and La Pucela would be delighted to sell for a higher price to Chelsea. Deco has asked Fresneda for more time to work out a deal, but if they have any hope of signing him, it rests on Fresneda’s preference to play for Barcelona, if there is one.

One way or another, it looks as if Barcelona cannot afford to dawdle any longer in the deal. Fresneda, Valladolid and all of his other suitors will be keen to wrap up a deal sooner rather than later. If Barcelona cannot present an acceptable offer, they will have to give him up for lost in all likelihood.