Barcelona teenage midfielder Ilaix Moriba is set to leave the club before the close of the summer transfer window.
The teenage midfielder rose through the ranks of Barca’s La Masia youth system and was always earmarked as having the potential to burst into the first-team squad at the club.
Ilaix fulfilled that promise earlier this year as he was promoted to the Catalan club’s senior ranks and he made 18 appearances in the second half of the 2020/21 campaign.
His future beyond this month is entirely up in the air - he is out of contract at the club next year and there is stalemate over discussions on any new deal, meaning that his market price has plummeted.
Barca’s precarious financial situation has ensured the club were not in any position to meet the contractual demands of his representatives and with no new deal expected, he was informed by the club that if he did not put pen to paper on a new deal - he would not be involved in the first-team squad.
Barca boss Ronald Koeman recently told a press conference: “His situation is horrible because he is 18-years-old, has been able to play for the first team and is the future of the club. And he is not playing, is not with us.
“I know the club wants to offer this player (a new contract). And my advice (to him) is that money is not the most important thing; that is to play games.
“But the player, and with his people, have decided differently. I am disappointed by this because I believe that in football there is more than contracts.
“For someone of 18, the most important thing should not be money.”
The midfielder was originally signed by Espanyol when he was just a five-year-old but he switched to city rivals Barcelona two years later and has been at the club for over a decade since.
He captained various youth teams with his physicality, technical ability and tactical understanding showcasing him as having the potential for stardom.
As with every midfielder to progress through La Masia, he is comfortable on the ball but his pressures in midfield, box-to-box style of play and willingness to help break up play as much as offer a threat in the final third makes him greatly admired.
That prompted Barca to offer Ilaix - aged 16 at the time - a lucrative contract which was, in a huge administrational error, sent to their city rivals Espanyol rather than the player’s representatives.
Espanyol were said to have been left shocked by the numbers involved in the offer - with the terms offered to a promising teenager outstripping most of their first-team squad, with a reported annual salary of €3million - but they did alert Barca over their error.
Despite having been tipped for stardom, he does not appear to have hit future at the Camp Nou as the money has dried up at the club and Ilaix’s representatives - who had their standards set exceptionally high by previous generous offers - were now seeking a new club.
The player posted on Instagram after last weekend’s draw between Barca and Athletic Bilbao: “Thousands of rumours and nobody knows the truth.”
It was not just at club level where his future was unclear; it appears that the teenager is about to choose to represent Guinea - where his mother was from - ahead of Spain.
His idol was Paul Pogba - whose parents were both from Guinea, the national side which his brothers Florentin and Mathias decided to represent - and the two are also comparable in playing style.
Chelsea had long been linked with a move for the teenage midfielder and faced strong interest from RB Leipzig, although the player is thought to prefer a move to London.
The stalling in negotiations has opened a gap for Tottenham to move for the midfielder and the North London club have been given encouragement over his £13million price tag.
A deal is far from being concluded but whichever clubs lands the highly talented midfielder, they will be obtaining a player whose skill and potential was comparable to Pedri and Ansu Fati - the two brightest stars in Spanish football, both on the books of Barca.
Had Ilaix emerged in a different era there is little doubt he would have had a long and successful career at the Camp Nou, but his availability ensures that his next club will secure a bargain signing with massive potential.
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