Barcelona have used their Champions League matches this season to scout players on more than one occasion. Arthur Vermeeren was looked at while he was still at Royal Antwerp, although he would go on to join La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid during the winter transfer window.
Furthermore, their two matches against Shakhtar Donetsk also gave them the opportunity to run the rule over Georgiy Sudakov, who they are reportedly interested in signing, according to reports in Italy (via MD). The 21-year-old scored the Ukrainian champions’ only goal in their 2-1 defeat to Barcelona at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in October.
The report goes on to say that Sudakov – who is also wanted by Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Manchester City – likes these links with Barcelona, which suggests that he would be very interested in moving to Catalonia.
Unfortunately for Barcelona, this one looks to be a non-starter. Shakhtar’s asking price is reported to be in the region of €50m, which would be almost impossible for them to pay due to their ongoing financial woes.
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