Barcelona chiefs, led by sports director Andoni Zubizarreta, are actively exploring every avenue to prevent their best prospects from being poached by Premier League clubs.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger raided Barca's academy over the summer for defensive duo Jon Toral and Hector Bellerin, who are now both playing for the Gunners' reserve-team.

Zubi is working with the club's legal department to find ways of being able to upgrade their youth contracts.

At the moment, Barca's hands are tied with English clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City happy to offer as much as €400,000-a-year to their best young players.