Barcelona 'agree £26m deal to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves'

Barcelona and Wolverhampton Wanderers have reportedly agreed to the £26m transfer of Ruben Neves.

For over a year, Neves has been frequently linked with a switch to Camp Nou without Barcelona ever coming close to getting a deal over the line.

When the Catalan giants raised cash through selling percentages of future television revenue and Barcelona Studios, they opted to sign other players to Neves.

However, despite their well-documented issues and desire to sign free agents this summer, the interest in Neves has seemingly not gone away.

Reports have maintained that Barcelona were only keen on a proposal involving players, preferably Ansu Fati who could be included and the La Liga champions still make a profit.

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Even when Fati showed no interest in a switch to Molineux, other squad members were selected, none of which would have left Wolves feeling like they had received the most beneficial portion of the deal.

Nevertheless, according to A Bola, a transfer worth £26m will be finalised over the coming days to end the long-standing speculation.

That is despite Xavi said to be unconvinced that Neves is the ideal alternative to Sergio Busquets, who is bringing his long-term association with Barcelona to an end upon the expiry of his contract.

The likes of Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan and Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi have both been linked with Barcelona and deemed more likely acquisitions.

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Instead, Gundogan is now allegedly expected to remain with the Premier League champions, and Sociedad are against parting ways with one of their key players before their return to the Champions League.

From Wolves' perspective, they are under pressure to balance their books as soon as possible to determine the funds that Julen Lopetegui will have to spend on new players this summer.

In the past, it has been suggested that Wolves will look to recoup at least £40m, but there has rarely been any indication that interested parties were prepared to pay that level of fee for a player who has a year left on his contract.

Manchester United have been credited as admirers in the past, while it has recently been alleged that Liverpool are monitoring the situation.