17-year-old Swedish wonderkid chooses Barcelona over Manchester City amid transfer rumours

Barcelona, since signing Pedri from Las Palmas, have learned their lesson, and have been trying to cut out the middle man as much as possible.

No need to sign a €100 million player from Benfica or Borussia Dortmund when you can get the same player for €10-20 million from their academy club two years early.

They implemented this pursuit on several other players since then, including Pablo Torre, who is finally adapting to life at Girona. Most recently, Barça also picked up Vitor Roque from Athletic Paranaense.

They are now ready to implement this strategy on Swedish wonderkid Lucas Bergvall. Currently plying his trade for Djurgardens in the Sweden’s top flight, the 17-year-old has been strongly linked to Barcelona over the last few weeks.

However, there are several other teams ready to pursue his signature, including Manchester City, PSG, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Fortunately for Barcelona, the player’s top priority is playing for Barça, and he cleared that up on record today, when asked to choose between them and Manchester City.

“I prefer Barça,” the Swedish whizkid said.

Barcelona have been given a tough time in this race, especially by Frankfurt, who have reportedly presented a €10 million offer for Bergvall’s signature. Barcelona, meanwhile, are convinced that €6 million ought to do the job.

While Djurgardens prefer the player joins Frankfurt, primarily due to the bigger offer on the table, Bergvall’s priority is Barcelona. He is clear that if the Catalans are gunning for his services, he will only join them in the summer.

This saga is bound to last until the summer, at the very least, by which Bergvall’s stock could rise higher. Barcelona will need to get this signing over the line sooner rather than later given the magnitude of talent in discussion.