Barcelona offer trial to 17-year-old South American defensive midfielder | OneFootball

FC Barcelona continue to closely monitor the South American market for young talents to reinforce the club ranks with an eye on the future.

A number of Brazilian prospects are already on the club’s radar, while the sporting department also plans to send scouts to monitor young gems in the Copinha tournament soon.

The Blaugrana continue to keep an eye out for talent in other South American nations as well, with one talent from Ecuador seemingly catching their eye.

Ederson Castilla offered a trial

Indeed, according to SPORT, Barcelona are interested in the 17-year-old midfielder, who came through the youth ranks of LDU Quito.

With the consent of his club, as he is still a minor, the player has travelled to Barcelona for a trial at the Catalan club, where he will be evaluated over the coming days by the club’s technical staff. The next few days will be decisive for his future.

“It is official. We tried to keep it discreet, but Ederson went to Barcelona to take part in a trial. It is a limited period of time that he will be there and then he will return. We are monitoring his performance,” confirmed LDU president Isaac Alvarez.

“He is part of the first team of LDU Quito. Afterwards, the next steps will be assessed if Barça show interest. We want to guide him, look after him, help him grow and ensure positive development because he is one of the jewels of our academy,” he added.

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Deco and Joao Amaral spearhead operation

Ederson Castillo’s stay in Barcelona is an operation designed and approved by Joao Amaral, head of Barça’s scouting department, based on the club’s own reports.

Everything was finalised during the visit made by the player’s agents to the Ciutat Esportiva in December. There, together with Deco and Amaral, the green light was given for this trial period.

Last year, the same process was followed with another young prospect, the Brazilian Roraima, then a player at Ibrachina in Sao Paulo, who later signed for Palmeiras.

The idea within Barça’s sporting department is that, if Ederson Castillo successfully completes this trial period, he could join in 2027 with a Barça Atletic registration to continue his development process, provided an agreement is reached with LDU.

Under no circumstances is it being considered that Ederson Castillo would arrive as a reinforcement for the first team coached by Hansi Flick.

As with any non-EU player, and despite being an Ecuador international at youth level, Castillo can only move to Europe upon reaching legal age, which he will not do until December.