Barcelona winger Francisco Trincao has spent the season on loan at Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanders but could be set for another transfer in the summer window.
Portuguese giants Sporting are considering a move for the 22-year-old and the forward is the club’s “great desire” for the 2022-23 season, as reported by O Jogo. Sporting are hoping Trincao can be tempted by the prospect of regular minutes which may help him make the Portugal squad for the 2022 World Cup.
Barcelona would be willing to sell Trincao and a fee of €15 million has been mentioned. Sporting would prefer a loan deal and are currently “analyzing the possibilities” of doing business with Barcelona.
Trincao only moved to the Camp Nou from Portuguese side Braga in the summer of 2020 for a fee of €31 million. The winger made 42 appearances in all competitions in his first season but struggled to impress and scored just three times.
A loan move to Wolves followed in 2021-22 and Trincao again enjoyed regular minutes initially but fizzled out and only made six Premier League starts in 2022.
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Lage Talks Trincao Future
Trincao’s deal at Wolves does include a purchase option but it seems unlikely, currently at least, that Wolves will seek to make his move permanent. Manager Bruno Lage spoke about Trincao before the end of the season but gave little away about his thinking, as reported by The Express and Star.
“We need to discuss this and now is not the right moment. We will wait until the end of the season to try and understand everything,” he said. “He’s not our player and has come on loan and we need to try to understand everything in the contract. It’s not about outside opinion, it’s about our opinion about what he did and how he’s grown up during the season.”
Trincao’s lack of end product is likely to be an issue. The winger only managed two goals and one assist in 28 top-flight outings for the Black Country side.
Trincao ‘Doing Great Things’ At Wolves
The young winger may not have taken the Premier League by storm in 2021-22 but certainly doesn’t seem to lack for self-confidence. Trincao spoke to Sky Sports in March about how he sees his first season in English football.
“If you just look for the end product, maybe you can say that [we haven’t seen the best of me]. But if you look at football in terms of the whole game, you can say I’m doing great things,” he said. “But normally people look for just the end product. But I’m trying to improve on that because I know it will give me the tools to be better and make people look at me differently.”
Barcelona may lack for wingers next season with Adama Traore’s loan set to expire in June and doubts continuing over Ousmane Dembele’s future at the Camp Nou.
Trincao could end up getting a chance if he does stay at Barcelona but the club’s financial issues mean the Catalans are unlikely to turn down any attractive offers they receive for the 22-year-old.
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Barcelona Winger Eyed For €15 Million Summer Transfer: Report