Barça and Juventus in possible swap deal involving academy stars
The Italian club's director of football, Fabio Paratici, admitted that the teams had been speaking about a swap deal
FC Barcelona are interested in Juventus' academy prospect Matheus Pereira. After dropping out of the reckoning at Juve, Pereira joined French side Dijon on loan last summer. Fabio Paratici, the Italian side's director of football, had admitted there have been talks with Barça over a possible deal for the youngster.
The response from Juve was to propose a swap deal which would see Alejandro Marqués, a striker for Barça B, move in the opposite direction. In a statement to Sky Sports, Paratici revealed an agreement could be reached this month.
"We're talking to Barcelona about both kids. We've had Matheus Pereira with us for a few years now, he's a good player, technically sound, but he needs a different type of style to showcase his best. We've seen their (Barça) player, Marques, who has the typical characteristics of a striker made for Italian football. We're looking at a deal that could be beneficial to both clubs," he explained.
In regards to a potential move for Ivan Rakitic, in exchange for Bernardeschi, Paratici was less optimistic. "That was an option in the summer but I can say there wasn't any firm interest in the deal."
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