Barcelona have opened talks with Sporting Lisbon over a deal to sign Bruno Fernandes

Barcelona have opened talks with Sporting Lisbon over a deal to sign Manchester United target Bruno Fernandes.

Sky Sports News can confirm reports in Spain that Barcelona have proposed signing him this summer until 2025 but will loan him to Valencia until the end of the 2020-21 season.

Barcelona are currently in talks with Valencia over a deal to sign striker Rodrigo and reports in Spain say they are hoping this new proposal can help get a deal over the line.

United and Sporting remain apart in their valuations for Fernandes despite protracted talks over a deal to Old Trafford this month.

On Thursday, the two sides were as much as £10m apart in their valuation with United willing to pay £42m having initially agreed a £55m deal in principle.

Fernandes played 90 minutes for Sporting on Monday in a 1-0 home win in the Portuguese League against Maritimo.

Barcelona want Bruno Fernandes to help them secure Rodrigo

'Jorge Mendes at heart of major twist'

Analysis from Sky Sports News' Kaveh Solhekol:

This is a major twist - and it's not a nice twist if you're a Manchester United supporter. For the whole month and even last summer we were talking about the fact Manchester United wanted to sign Bruno Fernandes.

They haven't been able to do a deal with Sporting because they're offering 50m euros and Sporting want 60m. With just a few days to go before the window closes, Barcelona have come in - and it's complicated.

What Barcelona want to do is sign Bruno Fernandes and then send him out on loan to Valencia straight away, so they can sign Valencia striker Rodrigo. Barcelona need a striker at the moment because Luis Suarez is injured.

Who is involved in all this? Jorge Mendes.

He is the man negotiating the deal for Rodrigo to go from Barcelona to Valencia - and he's also involved in the deal to take Bruno Fernandes to Manchester United or elsewhere.

Sporting, Barcelona and Valencia all look like being the winners, while Manchester United, who lost out on Erling Haaland, look like being the losers again at the moment.

Is this just a negotiating tactic from Mendes to get Manchester United to increase their offer? That's another way of looking at it but the information we have right now is that Barcelona's interest in Bruno Fernandes is genuine.

How to follow the January transfer window with Sky Sports

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