Barcelona close in on deal for talented Brazilian youngster Tailson

Barcelona are close to signing one of the rising stars of Brazilian football. Santos playmaker Tailson Pinto Gonçalves, 20, is the player in question. 

The Spanish champions have taken advantage of the fact Tailson's contract is expiring and therefore they will only have to play development rights. He will sign a three-year deal. Negotiations are advanced and he could arrive in Catalonia soon to join up with the B team for preseason. 

Barça's scouts were impressed Tailson during the Copinha, a tournament that shows off the best young players in Brazil. He was one of the top scorers in the tournament and various European clubs have shown an interest. Santos tried to extend his terms, but Barça moved quickly and jumped ahead of the competition. 

Tailson is an attacking midfielder with great technical talent. He's a good dribbled, has great vision and scores goals. In fact, he's one of the top scorers for Santos U20s. The club's first-team coach, Jorge Sampaoli, regularly had him training with the first team and the idea was to hand him debut until talks over a renewal broke down. 

The operation is a long way down the line and is just lacking signatures on the documents. Barça will pay around 350,000 euros in development rights. Santos wanted to add a release clause to a new deal, but it seems he will be on his way to Spain instead.