Barcelona Transfer News: Barca Must Keep Sergi Samper, Munir Away from Arsenal

FC Barcelona must keep highly touted young duo Sergi Samper and Munir out of the reach of Premier League club Arsenal. It's essential Barca fights to keep its best young prospects in order to preserve the club's core values.

Any resolve in that direction will be tested by the Gunners. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is keen on offering Samper more involvement with the first team than he currently experiences at Barca, per Mirror reporter John Cross:

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Arsenal boss Wenger was after the now 19-year-old midfielder three years ago, when he signed Hector Bellerin and Jon Toral from the Spanish giants.

But Samper decided to stay put and he will still take some persuading, as his priority is to make Barca's first team squad.

Samper has impressed for Barcelona B and now wants to push on after new manager Luis Enrique told him he will get a chance with the seniors this season.

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Wenger has also cast an admiring eye over exciting attacker Munir El Haddadi. The 19-year-old has been compared to legendary Spanish striker Raul by Spain's assistant manager Toni Grande, per Daily Star writer Alex Harris:

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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has kept tabs on the wonderkid for more than [a] year and is believed to be interested in bringing him to the Emirates.

The Gunners would be signing the new Raul according to Vicente del Bosque's No.2 Grande.

"Munir reminds me of Raul at the beginning of his career. He has similar characteristics...and look how far Raul went!" he said.

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Barca are used to Premier League clubs attempting to snatch away the fruits from their celebrated youth development structure. Arsenal have been among the more prolific pilferers.

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Wenger famously signed 16-year-old Cesc Fabregas in 2003. Since then, he has also signed youngsters such as Fran Merida, Hector Bellerin, Jon Toral and Julio Pleguezuelo.

Of course, hardly any of the latter quartet made the grade at Barca, or even subsequently at Arsenal. Their departures from La Masia probably didn't cause too many tears to be shed.

But Samper and Munir are different. They are already legitimate contenders for first-team minutes. It's a first team with vacancies for players with their particular skills.

Samper is a crafty central pass-master. He's got the touch, vision and creative instincts to position himself as a potential long-term successor to previous chief playmaker Xavi Hernandez.

As a player who perfectly suits Barcelona's fidelity to stylish, possession-based attacking football, it's no wonder Wenger, who relies on the same philosophy at Arsenal, wants Samper.

His midfield ranks are loaded with ageing and brittle players such as 32-year-old Mikel Arteta, 30-year-old Mathieu Flamini, 33-year-old Tomas Rosicky and Abou Diaby.

Samper may get more immediate opportunities in North London than he will at a club with Javier Mascherano, Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic. But so far, at least, he's content to stay in La Liga.

That's good news for Luis Enrique, as Arsenal aren't the only Premier League team courting one of his midfield prospects, according to Sport (h/t Sport Witness):

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Catalan newspaper Sport claim that Chelsea made an offer to Xavier Simons and his family, trying to entice the young Dutchman to swap Barcelona's youth system for the one at Chelsea. The Spanish club were made aware of this and have held meetings with Xavier Simons and his family to try and come to a solution and to fight off the advances from Chelsea.

Sport feel that they've been successful in that quest, for now, and that Xavier Simons isn't on the verge of leaving the Barcelona youth set-up. It's unlikely Chelsea will so easily walk away and Barcelona could have a tougher fight on their hands than their friendly media hope.

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Aggression from English shores should only encourage Barca to be more resolute on this issue. The ability to consistently produce batches of talented youngsters plays a pivotal role in safeguarding the club's future success.

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However, Enrique might be more concerned by Munir's growing reputation and its implications for his immediate future. The teenage forward is already drawing rave reviews.

Fabregas recently endorsed his incredible potential, per Sport (h/t Goal.com):

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Munir really is something special. From what I've seen of him in training, he is a really good player.

It's all gone pretty fast for him, but people have only been saying good things about him. He doesn't seem to feel any pressure and feels comfortable around his Barcelona team-mates.

He can play both on the wing and in the centre. His awareness and movement is superb and is excellent at finding space.

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Munir has the pace and trickery Barca love in wide areas. After selling Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal earlier this summer, the club needs Munir to continue his development in the first team.

Just as important as present team needs, though, is the damage that selling more young stars would do to the ethos of Barca. The club has maintained a proud adherence to building its foundations based on youthful talent and giving potential its chance.

It's what's separated the club from bitter rival Real Madrid. Los Blancos routinely spend massive funds on the game's marquee, established talents.

In the last two summers alone, the capital city club spent big on Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez. The outlay usually comes at the expense of Madrid's academy graduates and promising fledglings.

While Rodriguez and Toni Kroos arrived at the home of the 10-time European Cup winners this summer, 21-year-old striker Alvaro Morata was sold to Juventus.

Enrique needs to keep Barca's core identity as a major club willing to underpin its ranks with young talent. That identity has been challenged this summer by the sale of Fabregas, a La Masia graduate, to Chelsea.

Enrique also added veteran talent in the form of 30-year-old centre-back Jeremy Mathieu, 28-year-old ex-Arsenal skipper Thomas Vermaelen and 27-year-old controversial star striker Luis Suarez.

But at the root of his star-studded squad, Enrique should have a healthy smattering of youthful gems like Samper and Munir. He must keep those two out of Arsenal's reach.