Ilaix Moriba: Tottenham in advanced talks to sign Barcelona teenager
RB Leipzig are also in negotiations for the 18-year-old but Spurs are now frontrunners
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Your support makes all the difference.Tottenham Hotspur are in advanced negotiations to sign Barcelona midfielder Ilaix Moriba and have held repeated rounds of talks with the 18-year-old’s representatives.
Moriba, one of the most highly regarded La Masia graduates in recent years, is into the last year of his contract with Barcelona and has reached an impasse over renewing terms at the Nou Camp.
As a result, the teenager has been excluded from Ronald Koeman’s first team and the head coach publicly implied last week that Moriba was prioritising money over his career prospects.
Moriba has been offered to and attracted widespread interest from clubs across Europe and Barcelona are thought to want a fee of around £13m.
Spurs have accelerated their interest over the last fortnight and are now considered frontrunners, however, negotiations remain complicated due to salary demands and other fees involved in completing the deal.
RB Leipzig are also interested in signing Moriba and have held negotiations with the player’s camp, but the midfielder is understood to prefer a move to London.
Moriba broke into Barcelona’s first-team last season and made 14 appearances in La Liga. He had been considered part of the club’s long-term future, alongside fellow teenagers Pedri and Ansu Fati, but negotiations over a new contract have turned sour. Last Friday, speaking about Moriba’s situation, Koeman said: “I spoke with Ilaix two or three weeks ago, more as a person than as Barca coach.
“His situation is horrible because he is 18-years-old, has been able to play for the first team and is the future of the club. And he is not playing, is not with us,” Koeman said last week.
“I know the club wants to offer this player (a new contract). And my advice (to him) is that money is not the most important thing; that is to play games. But the player, and with his people, have decided differently. I am disappointed by this because I believe that in football there is more than contracts. For someone of 18, the most important thing should not be money.”
Moriba responded to the comments on Instagram following Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Athletic Club, writing: “Thousands of rumours and nobody knows the truth.”
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