Tottenham and RB Leipzig in the hunt for £13m-rated Barcelona starlet Ilaix Moriba after the 18-year-old stalls on signing a new contract… with the midfielder now frozen out of the first-team AND the Spanish giants’ B side
- Barcelona felt they could not Ilaix Moriba’s demands after holding summer talks
- The teenager is a Spain youth international and made his first-team bow this year
- Moriba started against Alaves on his debut and claimed an assist in that match
- He then scored his first Barcelona goal against Osasuna just a few weeks later
- Moriba featured 14 times under Ronald Koeman, but is now set to leave Spain
Tottenham are set to hold further talks this weekend over a move for Barcelona starlet Ilaix Moriba.
Spurs and RB Leipzig have now emerged as frontrunners to sign the exciting 18-year-old midfielder who could leave the Nou Camp club before next Tuesday’s transfer deadline.
Moriba’s representatives had been in talks over a new deal, but negotiations stalled with the two parties failing to agree on the players’ wage demands in June as Moriba was sidelined from the first-team picture and hasn’t even been selected by Barcelona B since.
Ilaix Moriba is wanted by Tottenham and RB Leipzig having been frozen out at Barcelona
The 18-year-old has failed to agree a new contract and has one year left on his current deal
Barcelona are now preparing to listen to offers for the £13m-rated, Guinea-born Spain youth international, who has one year left on his current contract.
Moriba made his debut as a 16-year-old for Barca’s B side under the tutelage of Garcia Pimienta, featuring regularly before scoring his first goal for the club’s second-string team against Llagostera in a 3-2 win in March 2020.
He was then called up to the first-team squad for the 4-0 win at Granada in January this year.
Moriba scored his first Barcelona goal away at Osasuna in March this year with a stylish finish
That strike came just a few weeks after the young midfielder made his debut against Alaves
Although he didn’t feature, he remained in Ronald Koeman’s thinking and several further call-ups, he made his debut as a starter on February 13, playing for 64 minutes against Alaves and even setting up the opener for Trincao, now at Wolves.
March 6 saw Moriba make score his first Barcelona goal as Lionel Messi laid a pass off for the teenager to switch the ball onto his left foot effortlessly before cracking in a shot from 20 yards to seal a 2-0 win against Osasuna.
In total, Moriba featured 14 times for Koeman last time and the Dutchman’s confidence to play him so often the second half of the season would surely give Nuno Espirito Santo or Jesse Marsch hope that the youngster could step into the team straightaway and excel, especially with Tottenham losing Moussa Sissoko to Watford on Friday and Tanguy Ndombele’s days at the club seemingly numbered.
