Barcelona intent on beating Manchester City and Roma to teenage central defender | OneFootball

Barcelona are closing in on the signing of 16-year-old central defender Jorthy Mokio, who has become a target for an number of Europe’s top sides. The teenage starlet has already made his senior debut for KAA Gent, and Barcelona have been working on his signing for several months.

Despite dealys caused by the change of manager, Barcelona are now in pole position to sign Mokio. The young Belgian defender has requested that he be allowed to leave Gent on a free – he has not signed a professional contract – and would join on a free. The Blaugrana have made him an offer, as per Relevo, and are waiting on a response, with only the green light from his family required to make the deal happen.

The Catalan giants have made the case that they will put a plan in place for Mokio, and ensure he gets opportunities, as has happened with the likes of Gavi, Ronald Araujo, Hector Fort and Pau Cubarsi, as they know that they will not be able to match the financial offer of other clubs. Mokio is considered one of the most promising of his generation, and Roma and Manchester City are two of the sides that have emerged in the competition for Mokio. If his family accept their offer though, Mokio will join Barca Atletic this summer.

Mokio is the latest of Barcelona’s increased effort to recruit the most talented youngsters in Europe, as has been seen with the likes of Mikayil Faye, Pablo Torre and Yusuf Demir. They will be required to rely on their ability to bring through and spot the best youngsters in the game for much of the coming decade, given their inability to sign the top players in the game.