Barça has offered Adama Traore a loan agreement with a £29 million buyout clause. Traore wishes to rejoin the club where he began his career. Wolverhampton rejected Spurs’ £15 million deal for the Spanish international last week by Wolves.
Adama Traore Has Been a Long-Time Target of Tottenham Hotspurs
Barcelona is in negotiations with Wolverhampton about signing Adama Traore, who’s still undecided about Tottenham’s offer to deploy him in many roles.
Barcelona offered Traore a loan agreement with a £29 million buyout clause. Adama Traore also wishes to return to Barcelona, where he began his career.
Spurs were edging in on a £20 million agreement for the 26-year-old after Wolves rejected their first £15 million proposals. However, Barca now appears to have stepped ahead of Conte’s side in the battle to get Traore.
Tottenham will not attempt to persuade Traore to reject Barcelona but to pursue other targets.
Spurs are continuing negotiations with Porto on the move for winger Luis Diaz to bolster their squad ahead of the January transfer deadline.
Traore started on the bench against Brentford on Saturday. He came on inside the final 15 mins and saw a goal called out for offside by VAR.
Spurs have long been interested in Traore and were discussing signing him at the end of the summer transfer window. This desire has persisted despite the departure of ex-Wolves coach Nuno Espirito Santo in favor of Conte as head coach.
Traore’s contract expires in June 2023, and a new agreement was discussed around 15 months, with his present club anxious to retain him.
Spurs Suffer a Blow, but Barcelona’s Pull Is Strong
Adama Traore’s departure constitutes a significant blow to Spurs and Antonio Conte – this was a move that was supposed to be already completed, with the club ready to add more recruits. They face a problem if they fail to secure the Spain international.
Traore was brought in to inject some life into the wing-back position, where Emerson Royal has missed the flair required to overcome a man in the opposing third. While Traore’s defensive abilities have been questioned, there is little doubt that his ball-carrying skills would have offered another dimension.
The current narrative is that Adama Traore never desired the role. Bruno Lage used Traore in desperation – when the club trailed Crystal Palace and Brentford – and last saw action at wing-back in 2019 under Nuno Espirito Santo, with mixed results.
More likely, his decision was swayed by Barcelona’s interest. Traore spent the last six and a half years adapting to life in England, but Catalonia will be glad to be home. He joined Barcelona’s development system at the age of eight and debuted in La Liga for Barca at seventeen.
The opportunity to return to Barca with former teammate Xavi Hernandez is one that Traore craves. He now appears to be on the verge of getting that opportunity. However, Tottenham’s hunt for the Spain international continues.
Alvaro Montero, a Spanish Football Analyst, Offers the Following Perspective: Is This a Surprise Deal?
Alvaro Montero, the Spanish football specialist, believes that Barcelona is close to finalizing a loan move for Wolves’ Adama Traore. Traore began his career with Barcelona in 2013.
Alvaro Montero said, “This seems to be a very close agreement. Barcelona has not refuted this allegation, and sources in Spain indicate that the two teams and the player have reached a deal. Traore is ecstatic about the prospect of returning to Barcelona.
This is quite shocking given Barcelona’s financial predicament. It’s a loan till next summer with the opportunity to buy – but this is not required. Additionally, we should remember that Francisco Trincao is a client of Jorge Mendes’ agency.
He is a Barça player on a contract at Wolverhampton, with the club having the opportunity to buy Traore for €30 million. If Traore performs well and Barcelona wishes to sign him officially, perhaps Trincao holds the key to Traore remaining beyond July.
It’d be a unique move and a test for Traore. We must bear in mind that he featured for Barcelona B and just twice for the main squad when he was a child. He was unsuccessful in Spain, but his exploits in England earned him a call-up to Spain’s national squad under Luis Enrique.
He’d return to a transformed Barcelona. When he departed, Pep Guardiola and Enrique were all about ball possession, despite not being a typical Barcelona player from the previous decade or so, he is a highly physical player who can aid Xavi’s current squad.”
