Barcelona will continue in their efforts to bring in the most talented teenagers they can find, and are already thinking about a potential summer move after losing out on 17-year-old Swedish midfielder Lucas Bergvall to Tottenham Hotspur. Their latest objective is 19-year-old Benfica forward Jose Melro.
Capable of playing anywhere in the final third, Melro has 13 goals in 16 games for Benfica’s under-23 side. That’s the highest average in the competition, and a number of those games have seen him come off the bench too. Style-wise, he has naturally been compared to Joao Felix, as a technical player capable of finding gaps behind the forwards.
🚨 In the dressing room they are amazed by Lamine Yamal's class, but above all with his involvement and intelligence. Yesterday he took another step forward, not only in attack, but also in defense. @jaumemarcet ✨ pic.twitter.com/Jpx1v5ibkX
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) February 4, 2024
Marca say that Barcelona feel they can force Benfica’s hand, given Melro is out of contract in just under 18 months, and are in a good position to sign Melro. It forms part of their strategy to compete with Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City for the best teenage talents on the globe, but Melro is seen as much more accessible than Bergvall or the likes of Claudio Echeverri. The Blaugrana’s intention is to move for these players before they make a name for themselves in the first team.
It is somewhat surprising that Benfica still have him in their B team if he is worth a pursuit, as appears to be the case from the Catalan’s point of view. While Bergvall and Echeverri have been out of Barcelona’s reach financially, they have signed Mikayil Faye, Noah Darvich and Ibrahim Diarra over the last 12 months, which is a clear show of their desire to expand operations for youngsters.
