Barcelona transfer news: Catalans 'need to pay €9m' to complete Denis Suarez signing

Barcelona are confident they will secure the services of either Vilarreal star Denis Suarez or Celta Vigo forward Nolito before they end of the current transfer window. Spanish publication AS reports that the price tag for former Manchester City academy starlet Suarez will be €9m (£6.9m, $9.8m) should the deal take place right now, while they will have the opportunity to buy him for as little as €3m if they wait to the summer.

The Champions League winners have been heavily linked with both players in recent days, with manager Luis Enrique confirming that he has plans to sign a versatile forward in his first move since the Fifa transfer ban was lifted.

"I don't know if I should answer that or not, but it's a good question," he responded, as quoted by Sport, when asked about the January targets. "Right now, I think probably in attack – if we are to bring someone in. In all areas, though, it would be nice to bring in reinforcements. There has to be negotiations before transfers, which always take time. It's harder in winter because teams don't want to lose players. It's not an easy time to operate, but we want to improve our squad and we are looking at players."

Both Suarez and Nolito have previously spent time at Barcelona, and Enrique believes they would benefit from being familar with the Barcelona way of playing.

Suarez had an impressive 2013-2014 campaign in the Barcelona B team following his arrival from the Manchester City academy. But following a loan spell at Sevilla, the Catalan giants cashed in last summer by selling him to Villarreal for an undisclosed fee, maintaining an option to buy him back at the end of the season for €3m.

AS, earlier this week, reported that Enrique had telephoned Suarez to convince him to return to Barcelona, offering him a spot as the key back-up to the 'MSN' trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.

But now the Spanish publications claims the Catalan giants are having second thoughts, as the option to re-sign him is just for the end of the season. However, should they want to get him now they would need to pay an extra €6m as compensation.

The Catalan giants are thus considering whether is worth paying €9m for a player who used to belong to them – and who could be signed on the cheap some months later.

This may explain why Barcelona have reportedly renewed their efforts to secure Nolito, despite original concerns about their financial restrictions and the Celta star's €18m release clause.

Sport claims that Barcelona are looking to get the Celta star on loan until the end of the season, with a mandatory option to secure his services on a permanent basis in the summer.

The Catalan publication adds that both Suarez and Nolito have already said "yes" to a return to the Nou Camp, but it now seems that only one will be lucky enough to join the treble-winners.