Barcelona keeping tabs on 17-year-old Brazilian defensive talent – report

Barcelona have made it a point to keep an eye out for the next best prospect coming through the Brazilian footballing scenes in recent times.

The Blaugrana recently roped in Vitor Roque from Athletico Paranaense and have been showing an interest in signing Palmeiras wonderkid Estevao Willian, although Chelsea may be leading the race for the teenage sensation.

More recently, it was reported that the La Liga champions also had their eyes on another young talent in Kaua Elias.

Rafael Venancio on Barcelona’ radar

Now, The Athletic’s Mario Cortegana is reporting that Barcelona are also tracking Corinthians youngster Rafael Venancio.

The 17-year-old is a talented left-footed centre-back who has been likened to another Brazilian prospect in Robert Renan, a player that had been linked with Barcelona’s arch-rivals Real Madrid not so long ago.

Venancio was called up to the Corinthians’ first-team setup this past weekend even though he was eligible to play in the ongoing Copinha tournament, indicating the faith they have in his potential.

As per the update from Cortegana, Barcelona have reports on the 17-year-old, who previously started out as an attacker and then played at left-back before settling in as a left-sided centre-half.

However, Barça are not the only one keeping tabs on the teenage defensive talent as Portuguese giants FC Porto have also obtained reports on him.

Whether this leads to anything substantial from Barcelona’s end in the months to come remains to be seen.