Barcelona are hopeful of signing Sporting CP midfielder Bruno Fernandes before loaning him to Valencia, report Superdeporte.
The operation is said to form part of the deal which will allow the Catalan giants to sign Rodrigo Moreno from Los Che, who have refused other players as part of the deal – including Barca full-back Nelson Semedo.
The initial report has been verified by both Marca and Diario AS, with a deal believed to be close to fruition this week, while El Mundo Deportivo and Diario Sport also lead their Tuesday coverage on the news.
Fernandes is an instrumental midfielder with Sporting and an international with Portugal, while he has been strongly linked with a move to Manchester United this month.
However, it now appears that Barcelona have moved significantly ahead of United in the negotiations and are hopeful of concluding the deal this week, before immediately loaning him to the Mestalla.
Fernandes has scored 15 goals and provided 14 assists to date this campaign – he scored 32 times last season – and is said to be very highly-rated by the Blaugrana.
Valencia have already given the green light to the hypothetical deal, the report concludes.
