Barcelona edging ahead of Man City in race for Brazilian prodigy

The name of Messinho isn’t likely to register with too many football fans at present, but it’s clear that 16-year-old Estevao Willian, for whom the moniker is attached, is the next in a long line of Brazilian prodigies.

Just as Real Madrid get ready to unveil Endrick, so Spanish league rivals, Barcelona, will be hoping to do the same with his countryman.

Endrick has just enjoyed a great week, having scored for Brazil at Wembley as well as registering another at the Santiago Bernabeu a few days later as the Selecao played out a spectacular 3-3 draw against Spain.

Messinho wants Barcelona switch

According to Mundo Deportivo, Barca are well down the road in trying to persuade the youngster and his family to move to Catalonia, but they face competition from the likes of Man City, Man United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain.

Where Barca may have the edge over their rivals is that the player himself would prefer a move to the club. The same report quotes an earlier interview that the player gave to Mundo Deportivo where he said that “my biggest dream is to play for Barca.”

Being christened as the ‘new Neymar’ will likely weigh heavily on his young shoulders, though were he to be playing alongside the likes of young Lamine Yamal and countryman, Vitor Roque, one can imagine that the player would settle in reasonably well.

He would also follow a long line of Brazilian stars that have played for the club including Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Neymar.

At this point there is still a lot of work to be done in order to try and get a deal over the line, and Barca’s well-reported financial worries – ESPN once reported their debt at over £1bn – could make any pursuit of the player unworkable.

A year is a long time in