Barcelona's transfer embargo has put English clubs on red alert regarding the pursuit of Croatian starlet Alen Halilovic.
The Catalan giants have been hit with a transfer ban relating to their development of schoolboy players with FIFA banning them from signing players under the age of 18 for the next two transfer windows.
This has opened the door for clubs such as Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham to go after Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Halilovic who has already represented Croatia on three occasions.
The 17-year old agreed to join Barcelona on a five-year deal in late March but their inability to now sign players in his age bracket has potentially thwarted the move, giving Premier League clubs the chance to stake their claim with attractive bids this summer.
Halilovic has impressed for Zagreb in the Prva HNL (Croatian top flight) this season, having made 20 appearances, and also featuring in Champions League qualifiers and in the Europa League group stage.
Barcelona have been illegally recruiting and importing players from outside of Spain over the past four years and have been banned from signing players for all of next season as well as being hit with a fine of more than £300,000. The Spanish club are set to appeal the sanction.
