Dani Bangachi, the promising right-back in Portuguese football, has returned to Barcelona's radar after catching the eye with Benfica, amid potential competition from Newcastle United and Manchester United for his signature next summer.
Barcelona tracked the 18-year-old through his impressive displays with Benfica last season. The Catalan club made their interest plain, but the Portuguese side moved quickly to tie him down to a contract running until 2031, complete with an 80 million euro release clause.
That left Barcelona's sporting management with little choice but to shelve any thought of signing the defender in the near future.
A few months on, with Bangachi established in Benfica's first team and still improving, the right-back is back on Barcelona's radar.
According to the Spanish newspaper "Sport", citing transfer market specialist journalist Ekrem Konur, the Catalan club are among the leading sides following the Portuguese's situation closely.
Newcastle United and Manchester United are gathering information of their own, weighing up a move next summer.
Benfica, says the same source, may be willing to open negotiations somewhere between 35 and 40 million euros.
The Portuguese club have also made clear the figure could climb to 50 million euros, depending on how the player performs across the season. So far Bangachi has played just six matches for Benfica's first team, totalling 416 minutes. That is not enough to justify the money they are asking.
No room for haste
Eric Garcia's stability, Jules Kounde as a reliable option, plus the chance to use Joao Cancelo and Xavi Espart at right-back, all point Barcelona towards patience before any major move in that position.
Hansi Flick is delighted with Garcia, a native of Martorell, and he trusts the French defender to rediscover his best level and fight for a starting spot. All of which makes it unlikely that Deco would enter a bidding war at this time to sign a promising player.In recent windows, Barcelona's sporting management have spent big only on players who genuinely upgrade what Flick already has.
That policy explains why Barca signed no centre-back last summer. The club's finances are recovering, but only gradually, and big risks in the market remain beyond them.
Deco and his staff still track every development, waiting for the right opportunity to appear.
No contact with Benfica over Bangachi has been made so far. Barcelona's officials will keep watching the Portuguese full-back's progress from the offices of the Joan Gamper sports city.