There has been a lot of noise regarding the future of Ruben Neves lately. The Wolverhampton Wanderers star has rapidly emerged as one of the top candidates to replace Sergio Busquets at Barcelona next season.
Recent reports suggest Barcelona president Joan Laporta, who shares a close relationship with the player’s agent, Jorge Mendes, has been making moves in an attempt to sign the Wolves star ahead of the new season.
The Barcelona coaching staff, led by Xavi Hernandez, are not exactly fond of Neves, though. Xavi particularly dislikes the player’s lack of defensive skills, even though he has agreed to Laporta’s argument that the Portuguese international is a very accessible target for the Catalans.
However, according to John Percy, Barcelona could face a few obstacles in their bid to complete the operation to sign Ruben Neves. The Telegraph journalist suggests Wolves are not on board with the idea of selling the midfielder on the back of player exchanges.
Rumours lately had claimed Wolves had put out an offer of around €30 million for Ansu Fati, with Ruben Neves included in the deal. But with Fati unwilling to join the Premier League outfit, Barcelona were studying the possibility of involving the likes of Sergino Dest, Nico and Ez Abde in the deal.
But Percy claims Wolves will not be interested in player exchanges. They want a cash-only deal for Neves and are thus demanding a fee of around €50 million for the services of the Portuguese international.
This could be problematic for Barcelona, as they are not in a position to afford €50 million. The club are already relying heaving on player sales to fund moves for new targets, so it will be surprising to see the Catalans splash the cash on Neves this summer.
