Barcelona need to try and keep all the players they can with as little money involved as possible. And it looks like their archrivals might make use of such a situation at Camp Nou.According to respectable Goal.com, Barcelona are so far failing to tie wonderkid Ilaix Moriba down to a new deal and suspect Real Madrid are the ones to blame for such turn of events. The 18-year-old has entered the final 12 months of his deal at Camp Nou and has yet to commit his future. Despite reports last month the Catalan side were set to hold talks with him and offer the midfielder a three-year deal but at the moment it looks far from definitive.Mourinho debuts in Roma’s dugout by trashing the fourth-tier side 10-0Moriba has been told he will not be allowed to take part in pre-season with the rest of the first-team squad as long as a contract standoff remains, reports also suggest.Same reports state that the Catalan giants believe their Clasico rivals are planning to tempt the La Masia graduate to the Spanish capital and that Los Blancos have had a part to play in the breakdown in negotiations between the player and his mother club. Representatives of the Guinea-born star deny that claim with any move to Madrid considered to be ‘very difficult’.##EDITORS_CHOICE##The Catalan side are still keen to tie Moriba down to fresh terms despite the obstacles they have met so far with his agents in agreeing a new contract and despite their need to reduce their wage bill to ease their financial woes. If the epilogue shows Moriba in the white jersey from the Spanish capital, he would then join a list of more than 30 players including the likes of Samuel Eto’o, Luis Figo and Ronaldo Nazario to have played for both El Clasico sides.Real Madrid are urged to offload players to keep their noses above the waterMoriba has also been linked with the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea and there have been suggestions that his wage demands for a new Barca contract are excessive. Barcelona are desperate to avoid a scenario that would allow him to discuss a pre-contract agreement with non-Spanish clubs from January 2022.According to Mundo Deportivo, United did make a ‘firm offer’ for Moriba, who has represented Spain at Under-17 level.Moriba broke into the Barcelona first-team in the 2020-21 season as he made 18 appearances across all competitions, scoring once and providing three assists.Moriba joined the Blaugrana at the age of seven and has a buy-out clause of 118.5 million USD and has worked his way through the ranks at Barcelona’s academy.
