Barcelona have reportedly held talks with Portugese side Benfica about the potential summer transfer of Nelson Semedo.
The 23-year-old has attracted interest from the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City in recent weeks, however according to the Express, Barcelona look set to hijack their bids for the youngster by offering a fee which is believed to be in the region of £35m.
There were reports that Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira met with Manchester City representatives during a visit to Turin for Juventus's Champions League semi-final second leg against Monaco to discuss the transfer of Semedo. However Goal claim the Benfica chief has also spoken with Barcelona officials about a potential move to the Nou Camp for the youngster.
It has been well documented that Barcelona have had many struggles in the right-back position since Dani Alves left the Catalan giants last summer. He was seen as one of the best players in the world, and it was always going to be hard for Barca to replace the Brazilian.
However Barcelona seem to have found the man they believe can strengthen their team even further with talks currently ongoing.
This will come as a huge disappointment to those teams who had hopes of signing the highly-rated defender, who now looks set for a success-filled career at Barca.
Some reports suggested that Jose Mourinho was keeping a close eye on Semedo with the struggles in the defensive positions he faces at Man United in mind. However they - like their Manchester rivals - are set to miss out.
Semedo has made 45 appearances in all competitions for Benfica in what has been his second season as a regular member of the first team set up. Whilst he has only made two international appearances for Portugal so far, head coach Fernando Santos seems to have big plans for Semedo in the national side.
Barcelona strengthened their defence last season after signing Samuel Umtiti from Lyon for around £20m and Lucas Digne from PSG for around £14m. On top of this, they also signed Aleix Vidal from Sevilla the previous season for around £15m, spending big in order to try and cement themselves as Europe's top club once again.
They look set to add to this growing list of high-profile signings with the transfer of Semedo seemingly edging closer.
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