Barcelona receive clear response to interest in England under-17 international

Recent weeks have seen a number of stories broken about Barcelona’s interest in several young starlets, as the Catalan side continue their attempts to bring in teenage talents with a high upside. One of those is Ajay Tavares, who is an under-17 international with England.

The Blaugrana are reportedly ‘very close’ to getting a deal done for Tavares, who turns 16 next week. In possession of a European passport, immigration rules would present no problems. The deal would see him join up with either Barcelona’s under-17 or under-19 side, with a view to playing for Barca Atletic in the near future.

Philippe Clement responds to Barcelona interest

Ahead of Norwich City’s clash with Charlton, Clement attended the media, and was asked about reports linking Tavares with a move away.

“Many young players are now training regularly with the first team. Ajay is a very interesting one on that list, and I know he was also in preseason with the first team and did very well,” he told MD.

“He’s very young. He’s still very young, but we want to keep our best talent. It’s one of the important things for the future, and it’s what we discussed with the owners: they also want players from our academy to develop and reach the first team. So, of course, we want to keep Ajay.”

JUST IN: FC Barcelona are closely monitoring Murillo as an option for next summer. The club rates his tactical qualities very highly and feels he would be an excellent fit for Hansi Flick’s system. [@joaquimpiera] pic.twitter.com/mqNQVNi2RC

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 24, 2025

Tavares amongst Barcelona’s targeted starlets

Tavares is not the only teenage forward being linked with the Catalan giants, who seem to feel it is an area that can be addressed. In the summer, they were linked with a move for Portuguese winger Cardoso Varela. More recently, Club Brugge winger Jesse Bisiwu was approached by Barcelona, and negotiations are ongoing with Al-Ahly for 17-year-old striker Hamza Abdelkarim. The Blaugrana have seen significant turnover in recent years in their youth ranks, as a result of Barca Atletic dropping to the fourth tier and the senior side dipping into La Masia’s resources often in recent years.

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