Barcelona sporting department highly rate Nottingham Forest player

It seems Nottingham Forest defender Jair Cunha is highly rated by Barcelona’s sporting department, according to claims from Spain.

The 21-year-old has quickly pushed his profile higher since moving to the Premier League. His first senior international break with Brazil has helped with that too.

Jair was already on Barcelona’s radar, and looks like those in charge at the Catalan club think highly of him.

The defender only arrived from Botafogo last year and has already established himself at the City Ground. His progress has now taken him into Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil squad and seemingly onto Barcelona’s list of young defenders worth watching.

Barcelona have good opinion of Forest defender

Spain’s Sport brings all the information in a wider piece about Athletico Paranaense defender Arthur Dias. Barcelona have been following the 19-year-old closely, along with some important Premier League clubs (Nottingham Forest included!).

Jair then gets a mention as another young Brazilian centre-back very much appreciated by the club’s sporting department.

They state the following: “Another young player who also emerged stronger is 21-year-old centre-back Jair Cunha, who has started his second season at Nottingham Forest and is also highly valued by the Barcelona sporting management.”

There’s no suggestion at this stage that Barcelona are preparing a move for the Nottingham Forest man. Still, being singled out as someone their recruitment team rates is worth noting, especially given how quickly his career has moved over the past couple of years.

Now third in Brazil’s centre-back pecking order

Sport also have another interesting claim about Jair following the international break. They say the Nottingham Forest player leaves this Brazil camp positioned as Ancelotti’s third-choice centre-back.

That would put him behind only Marquinhos and Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhães in the current pecking order.

There’s a nice bit of timing to that. When Jair first joined up with the senior squad last month, he spoke about how much he admired both defenders.

“I’m a big fan of them,” he said at the time. “I hope I can learn as much as possible.”

A few weeks later, he’s being placed directly behind the pair in Brazil’s defensive hierarchy. That’s quite a jump for a 21-year-old still settling into Premier League football.

The Barcelona mention adds another layer to it. There’s nothing concrete transfer-wise for Nottingham Forest to worry about yet, but Jair is clearly attracting attention.

And if he really has already worked his way up to third choice for Brazil, that attention is unlikely to disappear.