Barca's revenge if Newcastle beat them to 'Brazilian Busquets'

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 10 Jan 2023 18:00 GMT
• 3 min read

Barcelona have scouted Brazilian youngster Andrey Santos to be the long-term replacement for Sergio Busquets, and they could exact swift revenge if Newcastle beat them to the punch.

Busquets is set to leave Barca at the end of the season after 14 glittering seasons in which he has won 30 major honours, and the Blaugrana thought they had stolen a march on the competition when they scouted Vasco da Gama youngster Santos.

Vasco are currently playing in the second tier of Brazilian football - relatively under the radar - but the midfielder's exploits were nonetheless impressive, the 18-year-old scoring eight goals from 33 appearances in 2022 despite anchoring the midfield.

READ: Newcastle try to beat Barcelona to 'Brazilian Busquets' Andrey Santos

But now Newcastle have entered the fray, the world's richest club hoping they can tempt Santos with a superior contract offer as well as the possibility of playing in an all-Brazilian midfield at St. James' Park alongside Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton.

But if Barca find themselves painted into a corner for a Busquets replacement, they are reportedly ready to break the bank to bring Guimaraes to Camp Nou.

"The Blaugrana are looking for a player who can replace Sergio Busquets, who will leave the club when the current Spanish football season ends," report Fichajes. "There are a handful of names shortlisted: Ruben Neves, Martin Zubimendi and Bruno Guimaraes."

READ: Newcastle to demand world record fee for Bruno Guimaraes

Bruno G within Barca's budget?

Newcastle may be wealthier than Barcelona, but Guimaraes head could be turned by the prestige of the Camp Nou club. Whether Barca can make such a move possible remains to be soon, though.

Guimaraes still has three-and-half years to run on the contract he signed on joining Newcastle from Lyon in January, and he is now rated at €38.7 million by Football Transfers' in-house algorithm after an impressive start to life in the English top-flight.

Gerard Pique's retirement in November has reportedly lifted Barca's transfer budget to around €75m in the upcoming transfer window, but they remain in debt and spending so much of that figure - if not all of it - on one player might not be the best path to pursue.