Premier League champions Manchester City are seemingly confident that they will land a highly-rated South American youngster, despite interest from Brighton & Hove Albion, unsurprisingly, and Juventus.
The Seagulls' recruitment team have been excellent in finding young up-and-coming prospects, especially in that continent.
Julio Enciso, Alexis Mac Allister and Moisés Caicedo have been the most notable wonderkids to fly across the Atlantic Ocean to reach the Amex Stadium.
However, as per recent reports, they may now miss out on their next export from Latin America as the top-flight giants are confident that they will tie up an £8m deal in the near future.
What’s the latest on Valentin Barco?
According to the Daily Star, Man City believe they will come out on top for the signature of versatile Boca Juniors left-back Valentin Barco if Brighton and Juventus lodge rival offers.
The report continues by saying the Sky Blues were close to signing the 19-year-old wonderkid in the summer but instead, City will try again for the Argentine's signature in January and may yet activate the youngster's £8m release clause.
City’s South America Director of Football Joan Patsy has lived in Latin America for over 10 years and has a good grasp of which players will become world-class talents.
According to The Athletic, it was Patsy who encouraged Pep Guardiola to take a deeper look at Julián Álvarez whilst he was at River Plate.
The Citizens are prepared to pay Barco’s release clause up front which makes puts them in pole position to land the defender.
Who is Valentin Barco?
An attacking full-back Barco is seen as someone who has all the attributes to play as a modern defender due to his pace and ability to put balls into the box which has been helped by occasionally featuring as a left-winger for Boca Juniors.
The Argentina youth international made his professional debut at just 16 and is still involved in the first team at the Buenos Aires giant.
Barco has looked defensively solid in Argentina’s top-flight division.
The 19-year-old averages 1.7 tackles per game in the Primera Division as well as 0.7 interceptions per 90, according to WhoScored.
As mentioned previously, going forward is where the youngster thrives, however, as he has so far averaged a solid 2.3 dribbles per game, which may have stood out to an attacking-minded genius like Guardiola.
The "wonderfully gifted" Boca Juniors prodigy – as lauded by South American football expert Nathan Joyes – is also fouled 2.5 a game on average, which could provide Guardiola more opportunities to provide threats from set-pieces – just like Jack Grealish, who is fouled 2.5 times per outing too, which is the joint-sixth most in the English top-flight.
Why do Man City and Brighton want Barco?
The Sky Blues are despite for reinforcements at left-back with there being very little squad depth in the position.
With Joao Cancelo on loan at Barcelona and Oleksandr Zinchenko being sold to Arsenal last season, Guardiola has had to resort to playing some of his players away from their favoured position.
Despite being predominantly a centre-back, Nathan Ake has done a phenomenal job at City so far and can often be seen playing at left-back for the seven-time Premier League winners.
Rico Lewis has also been trusted with a palace in the Manchester City first-team despite being just 18 years old. However, the 5 foot 7 full-back has a preference to play on the right where he has played for Mancunian club’s youth teams.
Barco would offer more squad rotation and would cover for injuries if Ake or Lewis needed to move back into their natural positions and given his ability to impact the game at either end of the pitch, as evident by the aforementioned stats, he could be a perfect fit for Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium.