Barcelona face an exodus of their young players, with English teams able to offer professional terms one season earlier than they can. Arsenal are hoping to capitalise on this to sign young winger Josimar Quintero.

Confusion

Arsenal and Chelsea are both interested in two players: Quintero and defender Julio Pleguezuelo Selva, but it appeared Arsenal would be signing Selva, with Quintero heading to Stamford Bridge. It now appears that the roles are reversed, with each club giving a better offer to the other player.

Arsenal exploited this Barcelona loophole recently to sign Jon Toral and Hector Bellerin, as well as a certain Cesc Fabregas a few years previously. There’s no guarantee these players will be anything like as good, but there’s no better way to start than at La Masia.

Frequent

Arsenal have made a habit out of signing Barcelona youngsters, which has not pleased the higher-ups at Barcelona. Their reluctance to sell David Villa may well have had something to do with Arsenal’s repeated swoops for young players only too keen to be paid professional wages and have a shot at the first team elsewhere.

Of course, you could call it a very small form of payback for Barcelona’s pathological habit of buying Arsenal players every summer. When you look at Petit, Overmars, Fabregas, Song, Henry, and a whole host of other players, a few youth players who are uncertain to make it (with one exception) doesn’t seem a huge price to pay.

Then again, maybe it is...

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