Chelsea tracking Barcelona youngster

Chelsea are monitoring the progress of Barcelona youngster Marc Bernal, as they mull over a future bid for him.

The Blues are looking for fresh legs in midfield, over continued doubts over Romeo Lavia’s ability to stay fit for any sustained period of time. That led them to consider another Barcelona player, Fermin López at one stage, but now their attention has turned to his team-mate.

18-year old Bernal is a product of Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy, and is highly-rated, although he has only played four senior games for them.

However, the club’s troubled financial situation means that they may consider letting him go, providing that they can get a good price for him.

Bernal has played for Spain at under-17 level, and was part of the squad that took part in the under-17 World Cup two years ago.

Although primarily a defensive midfielder, his range of passing means that he can play further forward if required.

Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.