Barcelona starlet Moha to join Stoke City as free agent this summer

Barcelona starlet Mohamed el Ouriachi will join Stoke City as a free agent this summer once his contract at the Camp Nou expires, reports in Spain claim.

Having scored four goals in the Uefa Youth league this season, the 19-year-old Moroccan winger is considered one of the jewels of the Barcelona academy.

The Catalan club had tried to get him to commit his long-term future to the club with a new deal, while offering him the chance to step from the youth team, where he currently plays, to the second team the following season.

But Catalan-based newspaper Sport claims Moha has rejected the La Liga giants offer to join Stoke City instead. The player's agent, Raul Verdu, confirmed the news.

"[We] thank Barca for the deal it had with the player and the effort they wanted to do for renewal, but another proposal with professional and economic prospects has come that is really interesting," Verdu said to Sport.

Furthermore, the agent reveals Stoke City offered his client the chance to go into the first team, while at Barcelona he would have to continue his career in the reserves, who are currently in the second division.

Verdu said: "It was a great opportunity because Moha has the option of joining the Stoke first team and it was something irresistible."

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes, who played at Barcelona from 1986 to 1987, is a huge fan of the Catalans' academy, La Masia, and in recent transfer windows signed versatile defender Marc Muniesa and striker Bojan Krkic.

The Potters were also heavily linked with a move for Barcelona prodigy Adama Traore during the January transfer window but after the Catalan side refused to part ways with him, it looks Hughes has opted to sign Moha as a more affordable alternative.