Real Valladolid interested in young Barcelona forward

As we await the conclusion of the Ousmane Dembele transfer saga, according to a report by Jordi Gil, Real Valladolid is interested in signing young Barcelona forward Estanis Pedrola. There is very little detail at this point, but it does raise a very interesting proposition for the La Liga Champions.

Pedrola is an incredibly talented forward who made his La Liga debut in a 1–0 away win over RCD Mallorca last January and made 21 appearances for Barça Atlètic in the Primera Federación last season, scoring 8 goals.

A right-footed left-winger, Pedrola loves cutting back onto his dominant foot and is extremely dangerous in the final third.

In an ideal world, he’d head out on loan this year to either a mid to low La Liga side, or a Segunda team tipped for promotion, and that may still be the route that Barcelona take with the latest interest from Real Valladolid.

But Barca could be willing to facilitate a permanent transfer to the Pucelanos if they were in turn willing to negotiate the €20 million release clause for Ivan Fresneda, the extremely talented right-back who is almost certain to leave the team following relegation.

We know that Barcelona are interested in the 18-year-old, but we also know that they’re unwilling to match the release clause. Deco has already met the agent of Fresneda to inform him of the Catalan club’s interest, but there has been very little movement since.

Could Barcelona agree to a swap deal involving Pedrola and Fresneda?

When Barcelona agree to move a highly-rated prospect from the La Masia academy, they tend to insert two clauses into any contract. A future sell-on fee which can range anywhere between 15% and 50%, and a buy-back option, which tends to be around double the fee that was originally paid.

They do this to protect themselves in the future. The Barca Academy is world famous for a reason, it produces so much talent that it’s near impossible for all of the players to break through into the Blaugrana first team, so by inserting the clauses it ensures that Barca reaps the rewards for the money and time they spent developing the player in the first place.

A straight-swap deal is obviously out of the question, but if Barca can include Pedrola in any potential deal (with certain clauses) it could bring the Fresneda price down to a reasonable sum, somewhere around that €10 million mark.

Right-back is a priority upgrade area, and Fabrizio Romano confirmed that any money generated from the sale of Dembele will be used to sign a new RB.