Barcelona Transfer News: Leroy Sane Deal, Denis Suarez Call Made, Top Rumours

Barcelona are reportedly advancing in their pursuit of Schalke midfielder Leroy Sane and are prepared to meet the 19-year-old's buyout clause.

Manchester City, Liverpool and Real Madrid have all been variously linked with the young star, but Barca have seemingly stole a march, per the Daily Mirror (via Luke Gardener in the Daily Star).

According to French outlet L'Equipe (h/t Metro's Lee Thomas-Mason), the Catalan giants are aiming to take Sane to the Camp Nou on a six-year deal in June, and they will meet his release fee of €37 million (£27.8 million).

However, per Sky Sports News HD (via pundit Jan Aage Fjortoft), Schalke general manager Horst Heldt has rubbished the idea that Sane has a release clause, throwing a potential spanner in the works for Barca:

The Blaugrana are undoubtedly a huge draw, and they may be able to pull off the signing of Sane even if the release clause is indeed non-existent.

German international Sane is one of the most talented and highly rated young talents in the world, and he has been most heavily linked of late with a record £40 million-plus move to City, per German outlet Bild (via MailOnline's Elliott Bretland).

And Bleacher Report's Dean Jones recently predicted that the youngster would eventually move to the Etihad Stadium:

However, if there is indeed an offer on the table from Barca, Sane may well be tempted to take it given the La Liga giants' position as arguably the world's best side.

He would be competing for a place with the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar, but he could advance into the next big thing at the Camp Nou.

In the Bundesliga this season he has already shown his potential, netting four goals and four assists in 17 appearances, per WhoScored.com.

It is thus little surprise that he is attracting so much attention, and Barca are seemingly firmly in the race to sign him up.

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Meanwhile, Barca boss Luis Enrique reportedly phoned long-rumoured target Denis Suarez to confirm that he was interested in signing him, and to ask for his patience in a likely long process, per Lluis Miguelsanz of Spanish outlet Sport.

The former Barca player—now at Villarreal—has long been linked with a return to the Camp Nou, and Enrique reportedly assured Suarez that they would return for him in the summer if they failed to pull off the move in January, with the Yellow Submarine currently digging their heals in until they find a replacement, per Miguelsanz.

Suarez has impressed this season playing mainly on the left flank, and he would be a fine addition at Barca to provide forward cover—he can also play up front—per Spanish football writer Sergi Dominguez:

But his move to back to the Camp Nou is seemingly not imminent, with Villarreal rightly not prepared to let him go until they can guarantee bringing in an adequate replacement.