Tottenham have already made an attempt to sign youngster Arthur Dias, but the competition for the Brazilian defender now appears to be getting tougher.
Spurs had a €21m (£18.2m) offer for 80% of the 19-year-old rejected by Athletico Paranaense in the summer. They have continued to follow him, but Barcelona have now joined the queue in quite a flashy way.
Brazil’s Globo Esporte report that João Amaral, Barcelona’s head of scouting, was at the Arena da Baixada on Sunday. He was there specifically to watch Arthur Dias against Bahia. And the youngster picked a pretty good night to have him in the stands.
Barcelona scout gets a good show
Athletico won the game 2-1, with Arthur Dias among their best performers. Playing on the right of a back three, he registered seven defensive contributions and was heavily involved in possession.
His passing was really off the charts though. Arthur Dias completed 56 of his 60 attempts, with 21 of those successful passes coming in the opposition half. That included some longer balls as he helped Athletico build from the back. So Barcelona’s scouts certainly got plenty to take back to Spain.
Amaral is no minor figure either. Globo Esporte describe him as the “right-hand man” of Barcelona sporting director Deco. He watched the match alongside football agent Lúcio Araújo, who is also said to be very close to Deco.
That means Tottenham have another club to worry about after months of work on the youngster.
Tottenham already put money on the table
Spurs sent representatives to watch Arthur Dias back in April. Their interest then developed into a €21m (£18.2m) summer proposal for 80% of his rights.
Athletico immediately rejected it and were said to want around €30m (£26m). Tottenham weren’t put off and reportedly promised to make further attempts in the future.
English reports have also put Newcastle United, Brentford and Nottingham Forest among the clubs interested in the centre-back. Tottenham, though, are the English side known to have actually put serious money on the table.
On top of all that, Arthur Dias has now received his first senior Brazil call-up from Carlo Ancelotti.
Earlier this month, we covered that he was on the preliminary list. Brazil’s coaching staff had been gathering information on him after his performances for Athletico.
So now he’s a senior Brazil international, Barcelona are watching him in person, and he responded to their visit with one of his better displays. In the end, Spurs will surely find more competition waiting for them when they come back.
🇳🇱 Jan Paul van Hecke is not happy
💬 “We had imagined it would be different. The way we play and concede goals is unacceptable. The way the energy drained away from the team is simply not right.”https://t.co/j7JtRUESJU #thfc #coys
— Sport Witness (@Sport_Witness) September 21, 2026
