Espanyol have made a shock swoop to secure french under 21 international Kalimuendo from Juventus. The french star has been tracked for 12 months, however bids and messages were ignored by the previous Juve regime.

Its not been cheap though, with Espanyol surprisingly agreeing to let teenage Brazilan hot shot Leonardo head to turin.

“This was a really difficult decision and one we took advice on. Centre forwards with true potential are so hard to find and in Leonardo we strongly believe we had one who could be the real deal. Kalimuendo though is playing in a strong French league and continues to show progression. Although 18 months older, his versatility is what swung it in the end. We’ve Broja, Ben Seghir, Elanga, Christensen, Simic, Hansen, Nanasi and Turco all youth strikers on the books and having a wide forward who can compliment them was our thinking”

Meanwhile Espanyol have also moved to grab free agent Wessley Patati, a player the manager has monitored for 18 months. The Santos star has a current 100 million £ release clause and had started the season well with 7 goals in 7 games for Santos famous under 20 team. The likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City have this talented player on their radar.

“We’ve had to be patient to secure Palati, we needed squad space, and there was always a risk someome would get wind and steal from under our noses. South America and in particular Brazil continues to be a hot spot for us, given the research and effort we put in into watching games and scouting out there. We have another two or three on our radar but like Palati we will need to be patient and await the squad space opening up”