Spain’s top two clubs could be locked in a transfer battle for a teenage superstar currently lighting up the Japanese league.
Takefusa Kubo, 17, is expected to leave club FC Tokyo – where he became J1 league’s youngest ever player when he made his debut aged 15 – at the end of the season.
Now a number of Europe’s top clubs hope to land the attacking midfielder, nicknamed ‘the Japanese Messi’, when he turns 18 this summer.
According to Spanish paper Marca, Barcelona and Real Madrid lead the chase for the player, known as Take, with French side Paris Saint-Germain also interested.
Barca have previously been landed in trouble for their attempts to secure Take’s services.
The Catalonians first signed the player as a 10-year-old in 2011, and his case was among those deemed by FIFA to be illegal tapping-up of under-18s that led to Barcelona’s transfer ban in 2015.
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