Barcelona academy midfielder Ilaix Moriba turned 16 on Saturday, meaning he is now eligible to sign a contract with the La Liga winners or any other club.
Manchester City have long been interested in the teenager, while the Blaugrana have held several negotiations with his agent to tie the youngster to the club. Juventus are another club interested in him.
There has been a new development, if a report from Monday’s edition of Sport is to be believed. Chelsea have joined the race for Ilaix.
‘In recent hours’, there has been a meeting between the player’s representative and the west London club and the outcome of it has been satisfactory for both parties involved.
The Blues owner Roman Abramovich has given permission to director Marina Granovskaia to ‘go with everything’ to sign Ilaix, who is compared to Paul Pogba of Manchester United and dubbed the ‘new Pogba’.
Sport mentions the offer presented by the west London club is one of the best, both in economic and sporting terms, but the deal is still not closed.
The environment of Ilaix are set to take an imminent decision as he has offers from Barca, City, Juventus and Chelsea. 
The Spanish champions had a good feeling of retaining him, but the FA Cup winners’ intervention has changed the dynamics.
It’s pointed out that before Chelsea came into the picture, Manchester City remained ‘favourites’ to get the deal done.
