Manchester City have shown serious interest in Palmeiras youngster Eduardo Conceição, who had already been courted by Barcelona.
A week ago, Sport Witness relayed news that Manchester City are ahead in the race to sign the 16-year-old. The same source also stated the La Liga winners have returned for him.
Two days later, Sport Witness covered claims from Spain that Barcelona aren’t willing to participate in an auction.
The La Liga winners would only consider signing him if he were to reject every offer from England.
Barcelona worry for Manchester City
Monday’s edition of Sport has a detailed report on Eduardo Conceição’s stance on both Manchester City and Barcelona.
Pep Guardiola’s side have been in the lead and made an offer around €40m to agree a deal with Palmeiras.
However, the forward has put the Citizens proposal on hold and wants to wait for the Camp Nou side.
Agent Giuliano Bertolucci recently became part of his ‘advisory team’ and is now the shot caller.
The representatives are waiting for Barcelona, who already received good reports from their scouting mission.
The newspaper says it’s their own information and that Barca sporting director Deco has made contact with Palmeiras academy coordinator João Paulo Sampaio. He did this to find out about the youngster’s situation.
Therefore, the Brazil U17 international has decided not to sign for any club, irrespective of how tempting their offer is, and to wait for Hansi Flick’s side.
Conceição wants to understand in depth about Barca’s interest and their plan to structure a potential offer, to secure his services.
Barcelona need to assess budget carefully
It’s known the Catalan club’s financial situation isn’t great. Therefore, the fee needed to agree a deal for him and the money to carry out other signings needs to be assessed.
Eduardo Conceição will 18 years of age in December 2027. Until then, he can’t join Barca, Manchester City or any other European club.
The La Liga winners have to allocate part of the summer budget for a future signing. That won’t be the case for Manchester City. However, new agent Giuliano Bertolucci could spoil the Etihad club’s plans for the young attacker.
More developments are likely to take place soon and Barca’s economic conditions should give Manchester City hope.