Barcelona or Brazil? The decision that will shape Fabricio Diaz's future

Fabricio Diaz, the 20-year-old midfielder from Liverpool FC Montevideo, is on Barcelona's agenda for next summer. The player, who stood out in the recent South American Championship, scoring five goals and providing two assists in eight games, is well aware of the Blaugrana's interest, which has not yet been structured in an offer.

As SPORT revealed, the Uruguayan club want €6 million for the player. And this value, which is also affordable for the big teams in South America, opens up a wide range of opportunities for the midfielder and his agents. The interest in Diaz has increased exponentially thanks to his good performances with the Celeste U20s.

Therefore, the first thing Diaz will have to decide is whether he intends to prolong his stay in South American football or make the leap to Europe -- and the option of Barça is gaining strength.

The two best Brazilian teams at the moment have been pushing hard for weeks. Flamengo, reigning champions of the Copa Libertadores, are in advanced negotiations. They see the Uruguayan midfielder as an ideal option to replace Joao Gomes, who was sold in January to Wolverhampton for €18.7m.

For their part, Palmeiras, the current rivals of the Rio de Janeiro giants, are scouring the market for a midfielder to fill the space left by Danilo, who has been playing for Nottingham Forest since January.

Both Flamengo and Palmeiras are offering Fabricio Diaz a very respectable salary, implicitly a starting place in a winning project that is sure to challenge for the three major titles of the season, including the continental crown that will be defined at the end of October at Maracana.

Other clubs in South America, such as Internacional de Porto Alegre, have also been knocking on the midfielder's door.

Going to Brazil means postponing his arrival in Europe for at least a season and, in normal conditions, increasing the value of his price by at least 100%, up to €12m, which is the amount paid by Chelsea for another midfielder who was at the South American U20 Championship, Andrey Santos, who was also on the Blaugrana's agenda.

However, if he closes the door to Brazilian football, the has the option of joining Barça through the reserve team, which is the route chosen by another Uruguayan who is now one of the starts of Xavi Hernandez's side: Ronald Araujo.

Barça feel Díaz is a midfielder with the right profile with individual quality, physicality and game conception to become a top-level player in Europe. The main challenge is to make a deal fit in with the Financial Fair Play that Javier Tebas imposes on clubs.