Barcelona miss out on 16-year-old Portuguese wonderkid as he joins Croatian giants | OneFootball

FC Barcelona are always scouting emerging young talent across the globe in recent years in order to strengthen their youth and reserve ranks.

The strategy has seen them sign players such as Noah Darvich, Mamadou Mbacke, Ibrahim Diarra and David Oduro in recent transfer windows.

The Blaugrana continue to monitor several young prospects in the market one of whom was Portuguese talent Cardoso Varela.

Barcelona miss out on Varela

Indeed, reports in December suggested that Barcelona were interested in signing 16-year-old Varela with sporting director Deco even meeting with his agent, Andy Bara, to discuss a transfer.

The discussions included the possibility of bringing Varela to the club, but negotiations ultimately did not progress.

Now, the Catalan giants have missed out on the Portuguese wonderkid’s signing as he has signed for Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, with the transfer being officially confirmed earlier today.

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“Cardoso Varela is a new Dinamo player! The talented young Portuguese international has officially become part of our team and continues to train in our academy,” the statement from Dinamo read.

“Welcome to Dinamo. We wish you much success and happiness in the blue jersey!”

The highly skilled 16-year-old winger left Porto last summer after failing to reach a contractual agreement.

Following several months without a club, Dinamo Zagreb officially announced his signing on Sunday, adding him to their youth setup. Interestingly, the Croatian giants were Barça’s most recent opponent in the UEFA Youth League.