OPINION
Barcelona might be forced into slashing their current £44million valuation of reported Tottenham target Malcom, and that should be music to the ears of chairman Daniel Levy.
According to the Daily Mail, one of Phillipe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele or Malcom will be sold in the summer transfer window so that Barca can free up the funds to sign Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid and pay his wages.
It is understood that Chelsea is a potential destination for Coutinho, but there is a good chance that the Stamford Bridge club will be unable to sign any players in the summer due to a potential ban.
If Coutinho doesn’t leave the Nou Camp then the Mail claims that Barca’s £44million valuation of Malcom will have to be reduced – which is great news for Tottenham.
Spanish news outlet Sport reported this week that Spurs have contacted Barcelona about signing the 22-year-old Brazilian in the summer as they aim to open negotiations.
Malcom was linked with Tottenham last summer [France Football] before he left Bordeaux to join Barcelona, but it appears as though the North London club is prepared to revive their efforts to sign the attacker.
He has had a disappointing season at Barcelona in which he made 23 appearances across all competition and scored just four goals, but the form he showed at Bordeaux clearly did enough to impress Spurs to the point that they have pursued him in more than one transfer window.
Tottenham chief Levy is known to be a shrewd-spender and the chance of him allowing Mauricio Pochettino to spend £44million on Malcom would have been low.
However if Barca are willing to lower their demands to a more acceptable level, then Levy will no doubt be licking his lips over the prospect of signing the Brazilian forward on the cheap to either strengthen Pochettino’s squad, or potentially make a profit on him in the future.