Under the stewardship of Deco as the club’s new Sporting Director, Barcelona are preparing to focus on signing more young players. It is a strategy that has proved to be highly successful for other teams, most notably Real Madrid.
Unsurprisingly, one of the main areas that Barcelona will look to address in this regard is at defensive midfield. Oriol Romeu joined this summer as a short-term option, and at this stage, there is no obvious long-term successor to the ex-Girona man.
One of the players that Barcelona are scouting as a possible long-term pivot is Arthur Vermeeren, as per MD. The 18-year-old is widely considered to be one of the best young defensive midfielders in Europe, and he has been tipped for to make a full international debut with Belgium in the near future.
Barcelona scout David Fernandez recently travelled to Belgium to take in one of Vermeeren’s performances, and the likelihood is at he was left very impressed.
Interestingly, Barcelona will get a first-hand look at Vermeeren this season. He plays for Royal Antwerp, who are in Barcelona’s Champions League group. The Catalans take on Antwerp on Tuesday in their first match in this year’s competition.
Vermeeren looks to be an very exciting prospect, and Barcelona will have a tough task on their hands fending off other clubs to secure his signature, should they indeed try to sign him in the near future.
