Barça are still tracking Porto's Alan Varela as his value soars in Portugal
The pivot impressed when the two sides met in the Champions League last week
Barcelona sweated it out to win at Porto and move closer to a place in the last 16 of the Champions League last week.
The Portuguese side's bold approach created a lot of problems, though, and the Barça coaching staff particularly liked the play of the Argentinian defensive midfielder Alan Varela, who months ago was on the Blaugrana's agenda but in the end they did not go for him.
His style, his quick first touch and his vision make the former Boca man a very interesting player for the future, although it is now unlikely that Barça will be able to sign him, as his value will be very high.
Varela was observed by the Catalan club's scouts, who passed excellent reports. Curiously, the boy was trained in Barça's schools in Argentina and ended up succeeding at Boca, so he has assimilated the Blaugrana style.
Porto took a gamble on him by paying €9 million euros for 80 percent of his rights and it looks like they will end up making a lot of money, just as Benfica did with Enzo Fernandez and his sale to Chelsea. Varela is still being monitored in case there are options in the future.
