Leicester offer deal worth £45m to take Francisco Trincão from Barcelona
Leicester are trying to sign Francisco Trincão from Barcelona and have offered to take the forward on loan for two seasons with an obligation to buy for £45m (€50m).
The 20-year-old is one of Portugal’s most highly regarded young players and in January Barcelona secured a €31m deal with Braga under which Trincão would move to the Camp Nou this summer.
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The initial joining date of 1 July was pushed back when the Portuguese season was extended because of the Covid-19 pandemic and Trincão played his final game for Braga on 27 July.
If Barcelona agree to loan and then sell him, he would leave without making an appearance, despite having a contract until June 2025 and a buyout clause of €500m. Barcelona are not minded to sell but they are desperate to raise funds and if players they want to move on, such as Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembélé, do not go they will consider a deal for Trincão.
Leicester face significant competition for the Portugal Under-21 international, who is left-footed and usually plays on the wing. Atalanta have been linked with him but it is understood the Italian club are not in the running at the moment.
Trincão scored eight goals and contributed eight assists in 27 league appearances last season for Braga, for whom he made his first-team debut in December 2018.
