FC Barcelona have a long tradition of identifying truly world-class footballing talents throughout the world, and a lot of their players, both in the youth ranks and the first team, have hailed from South America.
It is clear that the Catalans are continuing to see Brazil as a source for talent acquisition, as they signed one of the most notable talents to emerge in the country, Vitor Roque, last summer. Now, the Blaugranes have set their eyes on another talent emerging from this country.
According to SPORT, FC Barcelona have an 18-year-old defender, Rafa Venancio, in their sights, who is currently a part of the Corinthians U-20 team, but completed the last preseason with the club’s first team.
The left-footed defender, standing at 1.85 meters, has impressed with his technical quality and ability to make crucial corrections—traits that fit the profile Barcelona always seeks in their center-backs. He is both fast and brave, and his versatility allows him to play effectively as a left-back as well.
In fact, there have already been several meetings between the Catalan club and the player’s agents, who were at the Ciutat Esportiva in recent days. Barcelona have proposed a first year of training at the Juvenil A team, but in this year he would also regularly be involved with Barcelona Atletic.
However, the defender also has other notable offers from Europe and was close to landing in Portugal last winter as both Porto and Sporting Lisbon made moves to sign him. Furthermore, two Italian clubs have also approached Corinthians for Venancio in recent days.
The Brazilian club has been churning out some very valuable talents lately and only recently sold one of their midfielders, Gabriel Moscardo, who was also liked by Deco, to PSG for €20 million.
Furthermore, they have also rejected an €18 million offer from West Ham for their winger Wesley, and value him around €30 million.
As FC Barcelona would not be able to pay such high sums for players only in the initial stages of their careers, they are looking to grab Venancio while his value has not yet skyrocketed, and develop him at their own academy for the future.
