Everton have joined Tottenham Hotspur in the hunt for highly-rated Barcelona midfielder Riqui Puig, according to the Mirror.
The newspaper report in their live transfer blog [22:37] that the Toffees believe they hold a trump card over Spurs thanks to their recent dealings with the La Liga giants.
The Mirror claim that Tottenham were previously linked with a move for Puig, 19, who made his first-team debut earlier in December during a Copa Del Rey win over Cultural Leonesa.
It is said that Puig has been named as the ‘new Iniesta’ at the Camp Nou.
Good move for Everton?
Absolutely. 100%.
Puig is a huge, huge talent who would light up the Premier League if given the chance to do so by Marco Silva at Goodison Park.
The 19-year-old lacks much first-team experience, but his talent is bound to shine through once he is handed the opportunity to strut his stuff on the big stage.
With Spurs and other clubs bound to be sniffing, Everton would do extremely well to snap Puig up.
This is Futbol rating: 9/10
Likely to happen?
Everton obviously believe they have the upper hand over Tottenham due to their recent business with Barcelona after Lucas Digne, Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes all ended up on Merseyside in the summer.
However, you would think that Tottenham would have the edge with Puig himself, who would surely be keen on a moving to a team in the Champions League.
It is also not clear at this point whether the youngster wants to leave Barca, with Puig having just signed a new contract with the club in the summer.
This is Futbol rating: 2/10