RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Here we go: Barcelona reach agreement to sign 16-year-old German defensive prodigy
With the transfer deadline day looming, FC Barcelona are making some last-minute moves in the market.
After securing a deal to sign Gabriel Jesus from Arsenal over the weekend, the Catalans are now closing in on the capture of teenage defender Mikael Baza.
Indeed, as first reported by Florian Plettenberg of Sky Germany , Barcelona have reached a complete agreement with Hamburg for the signing of the 16-year-old defensive prodigy.
Fabrizio Romano has corroborated the news as well, giving his trademark ‘Here we go’ seal of approval for the deal.
Medicals tomorrow
As per Plettenberg, Baza will become a part of the Barça Atletic setup while also playing with the Juvenil A team, with the view of developing within the club before a first-team breakthough.
The cousin of Bayern Munich centre-back and former Barcelona target, the teenage defender will sign a three-year contract with the La Liga champions until 2029.
If everything goes according to plan, the 16-year-old German wonderkid will complete his medicals with the Blaugrana on Tuesday before the deal is made official.
Hansi Flick’s role in the deal
As reported earlier , manager Hansi Flick is understood to have played an important role in the deal for Baza.
The teenager had been on the German tactician’s radar for a while now time, thanks to his connections within the German youth national team setup.
Coming to Barcelona. (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images for DFB)
Through that network, the Barcelona head coach intervened directly to stop Baza from signing for Juventus, before pushing the Blaugrana to step up their efforts to sign him.
Hamburg were understood to be holding out for €250,000 plus add-ons for the youngster, and Barcelona were trying to agree a lower fee. The final details of the operation are awaited, but an agreement has now been reached.
This will be another signing made with an eye on the future, similar to the deals that Barcelona secured for talents like Hamza Abdelkarim, Juwensley Onstein, and Ajay Tavares during the January transfer window.
A left-footed centre-back, Baza will be integrated into the Catalans’ youth and reserve-team setups and will not be a part of the senior squad, meaning that he is not the young defender that Deco & co. are working to sign.
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