Barcelona are close to completing a €20 million (£17m/$23m) double deal for highly-rated Palmeiras pair Vitao and Luan Candido, Goal Reports. The Liga giants are looking to bring two more teenage talents onto their books, with an agreement in the process of being finalised in Brazil.
Negotiations between the Liga giants and their Brazilian counterparts are believed to be at an advanced stage. If an agreement can be reached, then two more top teenage talents are set to join the ranks at Camp Nou. Vitao is a 19-year-old centre-half, while club colleague Candido is a promising 18-year-old left-back.
The terms of a deal to take them to Catalunya are being thrashed out by agent Andre Cury, a representative of Barcelona in South America. He has a strong working relationship with Palmeiras’ sporting director Alexandre Mattos and has helped to progress matters to this point. While he continues negotiations in Brazil, representatives from Palmeiras are in Europe to finalise the proposal.
Vitao is also in Barcelona to complete the formalities of a move to one of world football’s biggest clubs. Once his services are secured, it is possible that he could link up with Barca’s B side or be loaned out in order to gain more senior experience. Both he and Candido are considered to be ones for the future, with their potential being bought into at this stage before interest in their services intensifies.
Barcelona have made a habit of doing similar deals in the past and have worked hard over recent months to acquire players of considerable promise. Another of their moves made into the Brazilian market saw them acquire 20-year-old right-back Emerson from Atletico Mineiro in January for €12m (£10m/$14m).
He is currently seeing out the 2018-19 campaign on loan at Real Betis before linking up with the Blaugrana in July. Emerson will be joined at Camp Nou this summer by fellow defender Jean-Clair Todibo. The 19-year-old has a pre-contract agreement in place with Barca that will see him move to Spain once his current deal at Toulouse expires.