Barcelona have somewhat given up their chance to sign 18-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko after their demands for a transfer were revealed. The Germany striker went to the World Cup as the youngest player in the tournament and made his debut, though only for a brief period.
Having dominated in youth football at Borussia Dortmund he has taken the step into first team football already and is leading the line consistently for his club side, scoring six times in 14 matches with four assists. However, his contract is up at the end of the season and Europe's top clubs are well aware of his situation and talents.
Chelsea are one of the sides in the mix and have started early negotiations with the forward ahead of a move in 2023. From January 1 he can arrange a pre-agreement to join for free at the end of the season. If this isn't doable then Dortmund could also be backed into a corner and forced to accept a small sum for him in return.
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As one of the brightest sparks in world football Moukoko would be a major coup for Todd Boehly to secure and he fits the bill for the new strategic and recruitment model in place, but completing a deal won't be easy.
Only last week Moukoko's agent Patrick Williams told Sky Germany: "I can confirm that we are not yet about to sign a contract extension with Borussia Dortmund. I can also assure you that the numbers that are circulating [€5million/€6million (£4.4million/£5.2million) salary] are simply not correct and Youssoufa was never offered that way. But we are still in contact with Borussia Dortmund and will see what the next few days bring."
Time is of the essence for the German side, who ironically come face-to-face with the Blues later this season in the Champions League, but one club they may not have to worry about is Barcelona. The Spanish giants are still in a bout of financial turmoil and are looking to conduct business with as little spend as possible, ruling them out of paying Dortmund for a January deal.
That is reported by footballtransfers, who write that Xavi's side won't be drawn into paying for Moukoko when he is available for free. The caveat with this is that he may not be available at all if they weren't to move early, but that line of thinking comes only to Chelsea's benefit.
Barcelona signed Robert Lewandowski, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen and renewed Ousmane Dembele's contract last summer all without a transfer fee, but have still found themselves in dire circumstances, especially after being dumped out of the Champions League during the group stages.
The Catalan club are hopeful of using their history to persuade Moukoko to stave off other clubs and their interest in favour of a free summer move, but Chelsea are keen to get a deal done as soon as possible in order to get ahead of the competition.
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