Chelsea's manager Jose Mourinho smiles before their English Premier League soccer match against Burnley at Turf Moor in Burnley, northern England August 18, 2014.
Chelsea's manager Jose Mourinho smiles before their English Premier League soccer match against Burnley at Turf Moor in Burnley, northern England August 18, 2014. REUTERS/Andrew Yates

Chelsea are reported to be convincing the family of an 11-year-old La Masia prodigy named Xavier Simons to move to Stamford Bridge.

Sources in Spain suggest that the Blues have made a formal offer to have the Dutch wonderkid incorporated to their youth set-up, as they plan on producing quality graduates in the near future.

FC Barcelona, on the other hand, have already taken measures to keep their prized asset by coming to terms with Simons' parents involving a deal.

La Masia have produced some of the biggest names in the football world, Spanish or otherwise. Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Busquets, as well as successful Barca manager Pep Guardiola are only some of the talents that the famed institution has moulded and developed.

Perhaps the latest revelation of the said academy is the 19-year-old centre-forward Munir El Haddadi, who made his seniors debut this season for the Catalan outfit with a goal against Elche, and has already won a cap from the Spanish national team, playing 13 minutes against Macedonia during the international break.

With the strict imposition of the Financial Fair Play regulations by UEFA, top clubs in Europe are now taking initial steps to invest in young players that would not even come close to purchasing world-class stars.

Barcelona and Bayern Munich have reaped rewards from such kind of a system, while the Premier League's Southampton have been unfortunate to see their products get poached by wealthier sides.

For more football news, follow IBTimes Sport on Twitter.

RELATED STORIES