Barcelona youngster Alen Halilovic potential move to the Premier League

Barcelona youngster Alen Halilovic could be set for a loan move to the Premier League or Bundesliga after attracting the interest of a number of European clubs, Goal understands.

The 19-year-old appeared set to join Sporting Gijon on a season-long loan deal, with the team's head coach Abelardo a close friend of Blaugrana boss Luis Enrique.

But, reports of that deal alerted numerous teams across the continent to make offers for the player and Barca have now blocked his departure in order to examine the bids from England, Germany and several other La Liga sides.

Barcelona's new technical secretary Robert Fernandez revealed last Thursday that the club would prefer Halilovic to stay in Spain's top flight, meaning Sporting still have a strong chance of securing the player's signature.

The Catalans are even willing to pay all of the midfielder's wages for the duration of any loan deal on the provision he plays a considerable number of minutes this season.

Halilovic moved to Camp Nou from Dinamo Zagreb in March 2014 but is yet to make his mark on the first team.