Barcelona have had a £26million bid accepted for Benfica right-back Nelson Semedo and have sent transfer chiefs Robert Fernandez and Javier Bordas to Portugal to complete the signing of the Manchester United target.
The 23-year-old defender is an exciting prospect and has been linked with top clubs for much of the last few months, with United and Barca his main admirers.
Jose Mourinho has already raided Benfica this summer with the signing of Swedish centre-back Victor Lindelof, but had also been keen on a deal for Semedo, according to recent reports.
Still, Sport now claim Barcelona are closing in on a deal for Semedo after seeing a bid of £26m accepted by his club, with contract talks now set to be ironed out.
The transfer will come as good news for Arsenal, with Hector Bellerin also linked with the Catalan giants for much of this summer and the player himself also said to be keen on a return to the Nou Camp.
However, it now looks like Barcelona have made Semedo their prime target, with some stories suggesting manager Ernsesto Valverde had cooled his interest in Bellerin due to doubts over his technical and physical standards.
Semedo looks a fine candidate to solve what has been a problem position for Barca in recent times, with Aleix Vidal and Sergi Roberto sharing duties in that position last season after the departure of club legend Dani Alves.
Neither shone in the role, however, so it is little surprise to see the club look elsewhere for a replacement.
Semedo was said to have a release clause of around £44m which Benfica were keen to have triggered if they were to sell the player, so Barcelona look to be getting good value for the Portugal international.
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