Barcelona have accepted defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in their pursuit of Santos’ Souza, according to Sport.
Barcelona sporting director Deco had identified the left-back as a target for next season. The now consider him ‘lost’ as Tottenham have made advances to sign the 19-year-old.
On Friday, ESPN Brasil reported Tottenham have agreed a €15m fee with Santos after their €10m bid was rejected. They are sorting bureaucratic details before completing the player’s signing.
Sport claim Santos have to pay €2.3m to Barcelona over a dispute related to Neymar’s transfer to the Camp Nou in 2013. That’s been dragging on for years, with a decision in favour of the Catalan club. Subsequently, there’s been hope the amount can be used to provide a discount.
The La Liga winners have collected positive reports about the youngster, who has been aware of Barcelona’s interest. They were hoping to use the €2.3m to lower the price for Souza in the summer.
Bayern Munich also interested in player set to join Tottenham
Bayern Munich have also a scout to Brazil to follow the defender, and unnamed Italian clubs contacted him. Tottenham have accelerated to sign the player in the winter market.
After an initial off around €10m was rejected, Spurs returned. This time, they put forward around €15m, which was acceptable to Santos.
The Brazilian club are only due 75% of the transfer fee. That isn’t unusual in the country, with agents, families, and sometimes random business people owning a chunk.
Souza is ‘on the verge of signing’ for Spurs and is ‘one step away’ from a switch to England. Only paperwork needs to be finalised, to enable the youngster to fly to England and go through the formalities.
Not the first time Barcelona have lost out to Spurs
Therefore, Barcelona’s chances of acquiring the Brazilian’s signature has now ‘vanished’. In other words, the Catalan club have accepted defeat over losing Souza to Tottenham.