Barcelona Transfer News: Major Saul Niguez, Alexandre Lacazette Rumours Emerge

Barcelona reportedly have "first option" on Atletico Madrid's midfield star Saul Niguez, who has a release clause of £47 million.

According to the Sun's Alex Terrell, Barca have an agreement as a result of David Villa's move from the Camp Nou to Atleti in 2013 that "allows them to cherry-pick a first refusal on any player in [manager Diego] Simeone’s squad," and Saul is now their key target at the Madrid club.

Terrell added that the 21-year-old central midfielder has a deal with Atleti up to 2020, but Barca will have the option to up any offer that comes in for him, a significant possibility this summer considering the excellent season he has had.

His dazzling solo goal in Atleti's UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg against Bayern Munich on Wednesday showed just how effective Saul can be going forward, per BT Sport Football:

But he is also fantastic defensively, even able to fill in at centre-back if needed, and has emerged this season as potentially one of the most complete midfielders in Europe.

It is unsurprising, then, that he has been widely linked with a number of top clubs, most prominently Manchester United, who have reportedly been tracking him for some time, per the Mirror.

However, Barcelona look to be in the driving seat to sign him, and he could be a brilliant addition to the Blaugrana side, adding both further defensive solidity and attacking flair.

The uncapped Spaniard is still only in the very early stages of his fledgling career and has the potential to become the best box-to-box midfielder in the world.

Given Saul's quality, it would be no surprise if Barca decided to activate their option to buy him, even if it means shelling out almost £50 million to meet his release clause.

Laurent Cipriani/Associated Press

Elsewhere, Barca are reportedly eyeing Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette to supplement Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez in their attack, per L'Equipe (via football writer Robin Bairner):

The 24-year-old Frenchman has followed up his 27-goal breakout Ligue 1 season in 2014-15 by returning 18 goals in the French top flight during the current campaign, per WhoScored.com. 

Primarily a striker, Lacazette can also operate on either flank and would take some of the burden off Neymar, Messi and Suarez, who have played a huge amount of football over the last year, per the Times' Gabriele Marcotti:

Manager Luis Enrique needs more depth in attack next season if Barca are to avoid the recent slump that saw them ejected from the Champions League and drawn into a La Liga title battle, and Lacazette has the goalscoring ability and versatility to be an ideal addition.