Real Betis president Lorenzo Serra Ferrer has revealed Barcelona will rival Real Madrid for Dani Ceballos this summer.
Ceballos is one of the most in-demand young players in Europe after he was named player of the tournament at the U21 European Championships with Spain last month.
The 20-year-old only has a €15m (£13.2m) release clause in his existing deal but clubs could be prepared to pay more than that to secure his sought-after signature.
Real Madrid were the frontrunners for the Spain U21 star but Betis’ president has now revealed Barcelona have made an enquiry.
“They [Barcelona] asked me what my opinion of Dani was, and I gave it to them, and you can imagine what it was,” Ferrer said at a news conference.
“We love him and we value him here. We hope he can continue with us, not just for one season but for many more.
“We had a nice and respectful conversation. We spoke about things but not going into specifics about one team or another.
“Tomorrow or the next day he will talk to the coach [Quique Setien] and we will see if between all of us we can convince him.”
Ceballos still has three years remaining on his existing Betis deal but it would be a miracle if the La Liga side could keep hold of their star man amid interest from two of the biggest clubs in the world.
In the last two campaigns only Adama Traore (136) has completed more dribbles than Ceballos (132) all Spanish players in Europe’s top five leagues.
For more stats on Dani Ceballos, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
