‘Interesting’ – EFL boss reacts as Barcelona use unique rule to poach England wonderkid

Norwich City boss Philippe Clement has claimed the club have not given up hope of keeping Ajay Tavares out of Barcelona’s clutches.

The England wonderkid, who is being chased by some of Europe‘s top clubs, could depart the Canaries when he turns 16 this Sunday.

Getty

Post-Brexit, the FA, the Premier League and EFL introduced rules that prevented clubs from signing overseas players under 18.

Similar restrictions are usually placed on homegrown talent hoping to play abroad, but Tavares also holds a Portuguese passport.

As a result, the attacker is free to link-up with Barcelona immediately, who have reportedly won the race to sign him from Norwich.

Barcelona close in on England wonderkid

Tavares, who was wanted by Bundesliga giants RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund, is initially set to be part of Barca’s Under-19s.

Reports in Spain claimed the 15-year-old will progress to Barcelona B ahead of a future loan transfer to continue his development.

It is a similar path to the one trodden by Aston Villa‘s, Louie Barry. who became the first English player at La Masia in 2019.

However, Norwich boss Philippe Clement, who was appointed last month, claimed Tavares is already at the perfect club to progress.

“I know him, of course, and it is maybe something we didn’t discuss yet, but Ryan (Garry), my assistant, will be the bridge towards the academy,” he said while speaking to the Pink Un, who also revealed club officials have had no contact from Barca.

“It’s a very important role. I always give this responsibility to somebody in the staff. I did that role also before in Bruges so I know how important it is, so I get to know the talents also much faster.

Clement on Barcelona interest in Tavares

“A lot of young players are now training regularly with the first team,” Norwich head coach Clement continued.

“Ajay is a very interesting one on that list, and I know also that he played in the training camp in the summer with the first team, and he did good stuff there. He’s very young. He’s still very young.

“But, of course, we want to keep our best talents, because that’s one of the important things for the future and the things we discussed with the owners that they want also players out of our academy to grow and to go in the first team.

“Norwich has a good reputation about that, maybe less recently.

“And it’s also something I love to do, and I’ve always been engaged with in all my clubs. So of course we want to keep Ajay.”

Getty

Who is Ajay Tavares?

Tavares made his unofficial senior debut for Norwich during a July pre-season friendly against Volendam under ex-boss Liam Manning.

The four-cap England U17 international can’t sign professional terms at Carrow Road until he turns 17 this time next year.

Norwich’s Under-18 side sits 14th of 15 teams in the U18 Premier League South, but on an individual level, Tavares recently scored a 16-minute hat-trick in a 6-0 win over Malaga’s academy.

He could join the increasingly abundant English talent at Barcelona, with England U15 newbie Will Ferdinand Cvek already on the books.

U19 left-back Alex Walton was born in Catalonia but is eligible to represent the Three Lions youth and senior sides through family.

Marcus Rashford has also become the first Englishman in 40 years to play at the Nou Camp after joining from Manchester United on loan.