Barcelona send scouts to Brazil and Venezuela on recruitment mission | OneFootball

Barcelona announced the signing of Ibrahim Diarra on Tuesday, with the 18-year-old Mali talent set to join Barca Atletic. Sporting Director Deco is focusing their efforts in the new year on Latin America.

The scouting department is being supervised by chief scout Paulo Araujo, say Sport, and he will send one scout to Brazil in January, and another to Venezuela. The former will be taking in the under-20 Cup in Sao Paulo, or ‘La Copinha’, while another will be headed to Venezuela for the under-20 South American Championship. Many of the top talents on the continent will be present, including the likes of River Plate’s Franco Mastantuono.

Previously Barcelona, like many elite clubs have acted taking into account performances in the under-20 South American Championship, most recently with Vitor Roque. Given the financial challenges facing Barcelona, which prevent them from signing the top stars in the game for big money, they have increased their youth recruitment efforts of late.