One of the players FC Barcelona have been following and monitoring is Ruud Nijstad. The 18-year-old Dutch centre-back is regarded as one of the outstanding prospects of his generation in the Netherlands.
Despite his age, the centre-back has already played nine matches for FC Twente in the Eredivisie. Standing at 1.93 metres tall, he is a powerful defender with presence and great potential.
As such, Barça have been working on a deal for Nijstad since January and, at one point, it seemed like a move was close.
Barcelona withdraw from Nijstad pursuit
However, according to SPORT, Barcelona have decided to walk away from their pursuit of Nijstad as they consider the price requested by Twente for their young prospect to be too high.
The Dutch outfit are pushing to renew his contract and secure his immediate future, while several top European clubs are pressing to sign him.
Twente are demanding a fee close to €10 million, a figure that is entirely outside the Blaugrana club’s roadmap.
As such, the decision has been made not to enter the bidding for the defender, even though the player would be interested in wearing the Blaugrana shirt.
At no point has an official approach been made by the La Liga champions, neither to Twente nor to the player’s representatives. The transfer fee is considered entirely excessive.
Barcelona have focused on signing young, left-footed centre-backs with future potential – having added Juwensley Onstein and Patricio Pacifico during the winter window. Nijstad was also seen as a viable option with an eye on the future, but the move is now off.
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