New ‘Messi’ at Barcelona as La Liga champions ‘win race’ for

Barcelona have won the race to sign talented Copenhagen attacker Roony Bardghji and are closing in on a deal for the Swede, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Over the weekend, it was reported that the Catalan giants had taken an interest in the 19-year-old, who is considered to be one of the most highly-rated teenage prospects in Scandinavia.

Bardghji has already been on the scene for a couple of years now, having been promoted to Copenhagen’s senior squad at the start of 2022, and he has now featured 84 times for the Danish giants in all competitions.

The 2005-born winger has produced 15 goals and one assist in that time, most notably a strike in an enthralling 4-3 Champions League victory over Manchester United in November 2023.

Bardghji missed the majority of the 2024-25 season with a devastating cruciate ligament injury, but he returned to action in the spring and did not lose any admirers during his lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Barcelona ‘at final stages’ of Bardghji transfer agreement

A move to the Premier League has unsurprisingly been mooted for the Kuwait City native, who represents Sweden at international level, scoring two goals in nine games for the Under-21s.

Manchester City and Chelsea were both seriously linked with a move for a player dubbed the ‘Swedish Lionel Messi’, but the English giants are now set to concede defeat to their Catalan counterparts.

According to Romano, Barcelona are now at the ‘final stages’ of an agreement to sign Bardghji from Copenhagen, where his contract is due to expire at the end of the calendar year.

The two clubs are expected to thrash out the final details in the coming days, and the teenager will then officially become a Blaugrana player on July 1.

Bardghji to join Barcelona – will Nico Williams be next?

Once Barcelona’s new ‘Messi’ is through the door, the La Liga champions are expected to turn their attention to wrapping up a deal for Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams.

The 22-year-old appears to have had his heart set on a switch to Camp Nou for some time, and Barcelona are indeed thought to be on the verge of a transfer agreement.

However, Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich are supposedly refusing to throw in the towel and have made one final contract offer to Williams in the hope of luring him away from his homeland.

The Spaniard’s move to Barca is therefore not set in stone just yet, but it would be a shock to see him line up in anything other than a Blaugrana jersey in 2024-25.

ID:576042:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect4463: