Manchester City 'tried to sign Barcelona's Lamine Yamal this summer'

In the past week, an advisor to Barca president Joan Laporta revealed that the club were close to losing Yamal and other teenage prospect Alejandro Balde.

Man City are believed to have shown interest in Balde too, but the duo ended up staying in Catalonia.

Marca claims that Man City went all out to try and sign the 16-year-old and there were doubts over whether Barca could keep hold of him and Balde.

However, the club now look set to offer new contracts to the duo, with new Sporting Director Deco claiming they are in the process of renewals.

The Premier League club would go on to sign Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes late in the window, potentially after missing out on Yamal.

Deco appeared confident when speaking about their futures, saying: "Lamine Yamal will sign until 2026, and Balde, in principle, will do so until 2028."

Yamal being only 16 limits the length of contract Barcelona can offer him, so a three-year deal is the longest he can be tied down for.

Scoring the final goal in Spain's 7-1 thrashing of Georgia in Tbilisi last week has catapulted Yamal's name into the headlines.

Coming on as a late first-half substitute made Yamal Spain's youngest-ever player, before finding the net within half an hour to also become their youngest scorer.

After making his debut as 15-year-old in April, Yamal has already become a regular starter at club level, featuring from the outset in Barca's previous three matches, as well as in Spain's 6-0 win over Cyprus.

Balde, at 19, will sign a five-year deal according to Deco, having nailed down a place as Barca's undisputed number one left-back.

The emergence of Balde pushed long-serving Jordi Alba onto the fringes before he eventually left for Inter Miami, while Marcos Alonso appears to now be second choice.

Balde still has some work to do to get into the Spain squad though, after Luis de la Fuente preferred Jose Gaya during the recent international break.