Mallorca set sights on signing of third Barcelona player

Barcelona are not yet guaranteed to have the likes of Joan Garcia, Wojciech Szczesny and Marcus Rashford registered with La Liga before the summer transfer window closes, despite having freed up significant space in their wage bill with the departure of Inigo Martinez. And as such, further exits are expected.

The plan had been for Marc-Andre Ter Stegen to go, but with him having undergone surgery on a back problem, he will be remaining at Barcelona  – especially now that he has resolved the conflict he had with the club. Instead, Inaki Pena is a leading candidate to go, and the same can also be said for Hector Fort.

Fort struggled for playing time last season, and he will again be behind Jules Kounde and Eric Garcia at right-back. Barcelona would welcome his departure, but only on loan – he has been linked with a transfer, but the Catalans have made it clear that they want to retain total control over his future.

And according to Marca, he could be set to join Barcelona’s opponents for their opening La Liga fixture of the season: Mallorca. The Balearic club are keen on a move for the teenager, as they seek to replace Pablo Maffeo – who is expected to leave Son Moix before the end of the summer transfer window.

Mallorca have a key advantage in race to sign Fort

Barcelona and Mallorca have been involved in multiple deals this summer. Pablo Torre made the move to Son Moix several weeks ago, while there has also been discussions over teenage winger Jan Virgili. The two clubs have developed a good relationship on the back of these talks, which makes the latter a good bet to sign Fort.

However, a deal is not expected to gather pace until the final weeks of the transfer window, given that both clubs have things to do before concrete negotiations can take place. But right now, it appears that there is every chance of this one happening before the summer is out.