Barça will wait until 2026 to sign Cardoso Varela

Change of plans for FC Barcelona regarding the incorporation of one of the great jewels of European football: the 16-year-old Portuguese left winger, Cardoso Varela. Everything seems to indicate that he will remain one more year at the club to which he currently belongs, Dinamo Zagreb

The Croatian team, which signed him in the winter market of the 2024/25 season in an agreement initially until June 30, has enforced a clause present in the contract that allows them to extend the link. According to journalist Fabrizio Romano, this extension links him until 2028.

In turn, according to the club itself, the forecast is that Cardoso Varela will become part of the first team and join this season under the orders of coach Mario Kovačević.

Barcelona does not give up: looks to the summer of 2026

However, that does not mean that Barcelona is giving up on the Portuguese striker. As Romano asserts, the Azulgrana team has simply postponed its offensive for him until the summer of 2026. This is a joint strategy in which all parties involved would agree: player and agent, Dinamo Zagreb and Barça itself.

According to various sources, it is expected that a transfer agreement can be reached next summer. The amounts that are handled would be €5M fixed, plus another 20 'kilos' in variables, depending on the objectives that Varela fulfills as a player of the first team.

An ideal bridge for Varela's development

The time at Dinamo Zagreb could become an ideal competitive bridge for the development of the young player. He will have the opportunity to play in a Croatian team that will play in the UEFA Europa League in the 2025/26 season and will seek to regain dominance in the local tournament, after having lost the championship to HNK Rijeka, which broke a streak of seven consecutive titles for the 'blues'.

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Barça would be close to signing one of the great 'jewels' of Portugal

In this context, Varela will develop in a much more demanding environment than if he had joined Barça Atlètic, a subsidiary that in the 2025/26 season will compete in the Second RFEF, after having been relegated this season. Therefore, all parties seem to benefit in an operation that, if completed as planned, will allow the culé team to incorporate one of the great pearls of European football.

A versatile and very promising profile

He is a left winger - although with the ability to play with both legs with total solvency - fast, with dribbling, overflowing in one-on-one and great versatility. In addition to acting on both wings, he can also do so as an attacking midfielder, which makes him a very attractive striker for the future of Barcelona.

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