Barcelona Chiefs Hold Meeting With Santos President Ahead of 'Next Neymar' Swoop

Barcelona are stepping up their chase to sign young Santos ace Rodrygo Goes, with the club's chiefs having a meeting with the Brazilian side to discuss a potential move, according to reports in Spain. 

The 17-year-old, who has been dubbed the 'next Neymar', is on the radar of several clubs, with Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea all said to be monitoring the forward - who has a $50m (£37.5m) release clause built into his current deal. 

However, according to SPORT, amid interest from other parties, the Catalonians are keen to get the deal over the line as quickly as possible and held a meeting with Santos representatives on Thursday of last week. 

Barca's CEO Oscar Grau, general manager Pep Segura and Andre Cury - the club's man in Brazil - sat down with ‎Peixe president José Carlos Peres with the hope of finalising an agreement which would be completed in 2020. 

The report claims that La Liga champions made an initial offer of around €30m (£26.3m), which was subsequently knocked back by Rodrygo's outfit. 

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And although Barca remain adamant they will be able to land their man, Santos are willing to hold out to see what other offers are tabled. 

It is believed that the attacker, who is tied down in Brazil until 2022, sees Catalonia as his preferred destination, and Barcelona are hoping to be able to use that to their advantage in striking a deal. 

Blaugrana plan to remain in contact with the player's agent and were willing to begin paying their instalments in July, had the €30m offer been accepted, in which they will also enter a pact that leaves Rodrygo at Santos until at least 2020 depending on his development.