Barcelona are ready to throw Sergino Dest into a deal for Tottenham Hotspur target Yannick Ferreira Carrasco.
That is according to a report from Catalan newspaper SPORT, who claim that Barcelona are pushing for Carrasco.
It’s stated that Barcelona have an option to buy Atletico winger Carrasco for around €15million (£13million) this summer.
That was negotiated as part of the deal that saw Barcelona offload Memphis Depay to Atletico in January.
However, Barcelona want to bring that price tag down and want to throw Dest into the deal.
Dest is on loan at AC Milan this season but has only started two league games.
The American international appears to have no future at Barcelona and will be flogged this summer.
Whether Atletico are interested remains to be seen but the offer could dent Tottenham’s lingering Carrasco hopes.
Tottenham have been chasing Yannick Carrasco
Spanish newspaper Marca claimed in February that Tottenham are keen on signing both Carrasco and Jan Oblak from Atletico this summer.
The links to Carrasco have been going on for a while now.
The Telegraph claimed in August that Tottenham had opened talks to sign Carrasco before the transfer deadline.
No deal was done in the end as Tottenham gave up after Atletico made it clear that they wanted Carrasco’s full £51million release clause.
Spurs may well still be keen on Carrasco but they are left at the mercy of Barcelona as they consider activating their clause or trying to haggle.
If Atletico don’t fancy taking Dest, Spurs may still have a real chance of bringing Carrasco to London after all.
The other side of this is that Tottenham are going through changes with Antonio Conte gone and Fabio Paratici possibly on his way out.
Spurs will have new influences on their transfer plans and it’s unclear whether Carrasco will still be such a key target moving forward.