Barcelona have reached personal terms with Athletic Bilbao midfielder Nico Williams.
But there are still difficulties to overcome so that the footballer has the opportunity to join the club from Catalonia, the BBC wrote on Thursday.
The Spain international, who scored 31 goals in 167 appearances for Bilbao, has also been linked with Arsenal and Bayern Munich.
But the 22-year-old has agreed to sign a six-year contract with Barcelona, where he would join up with close friend Lamine Yamali.
Williams has asked Yamali for help in influencing his transfer.
Barcelona also aims to sign Liverpool striker Luis Diaz in the summer, but they are asking for £80 million for the Colombian.
Williams has a release clause of 62 million euros, which Barcelona can afford.
Williams scored 11 goals in 41 appearances in all competitions in the season that has now ended.
He won the European Championship with Spain last year.
He scored the 1-0 goal in a 2-1 victory over England in the final held in Berlin.