Barcelona keeping tabs on German prodigy as response to Real Madrid’s JJ Gabriel push

Barcelona keeping tabs on German prodigy as response to Real Madrid’s JJ Gabriel push The future of JJ Gabriel is something that has kept both Real Madrid and Barcelona battling hard in these last few months. But it appears Real Madrid are winning that battle, with Los Blancos now emerging as the favourite to complete the capture of the Manchester United youth prodigy. This is a major blow for Barcelona, losing out on one of the best talents to come out of the United academy in recent years. However, the club are prepared to hit back. Barcelona targeting Niko Ilicevic Ilicevic is the nephew of former footballer Ivo Ilicevic. (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images) According to Diario SPORT , Barcelona have already readied a response to Real Madrid’s JJ Gabriel push, as they are keeping tabs on one of the most exciting up and coming talents in German football. The player in question is Niko Ilicevic. An attacking midfielder by trade, Ilicevic currently plies his trade for Eintracht Frankfurt’s reserve squad but has recently made his Bundesliga debut. The report points out that Barcelona are among clubs closely monitoring the progress of the 16-year-old. Barcelona are not alone in the race, with several Premier League, Serie A clubs as well as Real Madrid also being keen observers of his progress. Ilicevic’s contract situation at Eintracht Ilicevic is the latest emerging star in the Bundesliga. (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images) Acquiring the services of Ilicevic won’t be easy as there are multiple top clubs in Europe also interested in the German youngster. However, Ilicevic’s contract situation at Eintracht Frankfurt is rather promising, as far as Barcelona are concerned. While the youngster is open to signing a new deal with Eintracht that would allow the German to receive a fair compension for his potential sale, he wants the exit clause to be reasonable. This will help clubs like Barça to facilitate the move easily, though, for the time being, it appears the Catalans are only monitoring the player’s progress and have yet to make a move. It will be interesting to see how Ilicevic continues his development in the Bundesliga during the remainder of this campaign.