Barcelona close to finalising the departure of 22-year-old forward on a two-year loan | OneFootball

According to a report by Diario Record, Sporting CP are about to close the signing of Barcelona’s Francisco Trincao on a two-year loan deal with a mandatory purchase option of €20 million.

Barcelona announced the signing of Pedri and Francisco Trincao much before the 2020/21 season began. The former was 16 at the time, playing in the second tier of Spanish football with Las Palmas and was relatively unknown.

Trincao, however, was considered one of the brightest prospects in the Portuguese league as a teenage. He had registered eight goals and six assists with Sporting Braga during the 2019/20 season, which compelled Barça to shell out €31 million for him.

However, his stint with Barcelona was far from what he would have wanted. Competing with Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann, Trincao started just three league games all season, scoring three and setting up two.

Eventually, he left on a year-long loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers, which was rather underwhelming as well.

With Ousmane Dembele’s future in doubt, one might think Trincao could get the much-needed break next season under Xavi. However, the manager prefers Raphinha and Alex Collado over him, but is willing to judge him during the pre-season.

On the contrary, everything suggests that the 22-year-old is ready to move back to Portugal now, hoping to revive his career in his homeland.

Sporting finished in second place in the league last season, six adrift of Porto. After winning the title for the first time in 19 years in 2020/21, they want to get back to the top using driven players such as Trincao.