Barcelona Transfer News: Nolito Blow, Latest Domenico Berardi Rumours

Arsenal plan to trigger the buy-out clause of Celta Vigo forward Nolito in January, amid rumours the Galicians are unwilling to let the former Barcelona man move to another La Liga club.

That's according to Spanish publication AS (h/t Daily Telegraph), who believe the Gunners are willing to meet Celta Vigo's valuation of the player. Nolito has yet to sign a new deal with the club, and it's believed he will leave Celta Vigo either in January or at the end of the season.

The 29-year-old has been the driving force behind Vigo's superb start to the 2015-16 season, scoring seven goals and adding four assists in 11 La Liga matches, per WhoScored.com. He has also impressed for Spain's national team, and Ben Hayward of Goal thinks he has to be in the starting XI for Euro 2016:

As a former Barcelona player, the links to the Camp Nou are obvious. The Blaugrana have struggled for depth in 2015-16 following injuries to Lionel Messi and Rafinha, and while the arrival of Arda Turan should improve the club in that department, another veteran option is needed.

Nolito is a perfect fit for manager Luis Enrique's system and knows Barcelona as well as anyone. He would also be the perfect replacement for Pedro, who left the club for Chelsea during the summer.

Unfortunately, he seems less likely to return to the Camp Nou with every passing day. As shared by Sport Witness, it seems the rumours Barcelona don't have the finances to land a big fish in January have some merit, and even Nolito's buy-out clause could end up being too steep for the Catalans:

The buy-out clause complicates matters. Celta Vigo may be unwilling to sell Nolito to another Spanish club, but if the Catalans trigger the clause and Nolito decides he wants to return to his former club, there is little the Galicians can do about it.

Nolito caused a bit of a storm on social media when he liked a story from AS claiming Arsenal would trigger the clause, per Metro's Will Giles, and the player has yet to give any indication he wouldn't be open to a move to north London. If the Gunners do activate the clause, he's likely to agree to a deal quickly.

Domenico Berardi Blow

Dino Panato/Getty Images

More bad news for the Catalans, as reported transfer target Domenico Berardi seems set to leave Sassuolo for Juventus at the end of the season.

His agent, Simone Seghedoni, told Calciomercato (h/t Football Italia) the Neroverdi and Bianconeri have a “verbal agreement” regarding the move:

"

Juventus have a verbal agreement with Sassuolo for June.

That’s still a long way away though, and we’re not thinking about it at the moment. Domenico will not go to Juventus in January, I can categorically rule out leaving in the next transfer window.

He will not move until June, in line with a program devised along with the club. Domenico is only thinking about continuing his growth with Sassuolo and Coach [Eusebio] Di Francesco.

"

Berardi has been linked with the Catalan giants for some time now and fuelled the rumours when he told Sky Sports (h/t Goal's Stefan Coerts) he would love to train and play alongside Messi and Neymar earlier this month.

The 21-year-old continues to impress in Serie A and ranks among the best young players in Europe. Per Squawka Dave, his numbers in the last three seasons have been spectacular:

Juventus raised a few eyebrows when they sold their share in the youngster to Sassuolo last summer, but the deal included a buy-back clause, set to activate at the end of the season. The move gave Berardi another season of consistent playing time, which should help his development and bid to make the Italian squad for Euro 2016.

Barcelona need a veteran contributor, rather than a young prospect to strengthen their attack, but in the case of Berardi, you have to believe the Catalans would have been willing to invest a significant sum given his obvious potential.

A move to Juventus seems the smarter choice for his career, as the Bianconeri should be able to give him more minutes than Barcelona, who don't need another starter.

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