Aston Villa are targeting Barcelona midfielder Marc Bernal this summer, with the Premier League club preparing a £30 million offer for the teenager.
The 19-year-old had a standout campaign with Barcelona last season, contributing five goals across all competitions and catching the attention of clubs across Europe.
Bernal featured in 33 matches for Barcelona across all competitions last season, demonstrating his growing importance to the Catalan club despite not holding a regular starting berth.
Barcelona consider Bernal an “untouchable” asset and have made clear they have no intention of parting ways with the highly-rated young midfielder.
The Spanish champions have already rejected offers in the region of £25 million for Bernal, making it unlikely that Villa’s proposed £30 million bid will be any more successful.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is a known admirer of the teenager and has reportedly placed Bernal at the very top of his summer transfer wishlist.
Emery clearly sees Bernal as a key piece of his long-term plans, and Villa are understood to be exploring whether a sufficiently attractive package could force Barcelona into a rethink.
However, convincing Bernal himself to leave may prove just as challenging, given that he is a boyhood Barcelona player who has already been handed meaningful opportunities at one of the world’s biggest clubs.
With a pathway to regular first-team football at Barcelona appearing attainable, Bernal has little obvious incentive to seek a move away from the Nou Camp at this stage of his career.
Villa clearly need further reinforcements in central midfield and Bernal would represent a serious long-term investment, but prising him away from Barcelona looks set to be an enormous challenge.
The West Midlands club may ultimately need to raise their offer well beyond the current £30 million figure if they are to have any realistic chance of doing business with the Spanish champions this summer.
