Chelsea are leading the race to deprive Barcelona of their promising defender Pau Cubarsi by activating his modest release clause, according to reports in Spain.

Cubarsi has been promoted to the Barcelona B team this season, despite only being 16 years old. He has played in five league games so far in the Spanish third tier. His current employers believe Cubarsi has a bright future in the senior game, which is why he was given a contract until 2026 over the summer.

However, Barcelona are vulnerable to losing Cubarsi in the future, because various clubs are keeping an eye on his development. Last month, it was claimed that Manchester City took a look at him in the summer.

Now, Diario Sport is claiming it was actually Chelsea who made the strongest push to take Cubarsi away from Barcelona in the summer - and they remain keen on doing so.

A release clause was written into Cubarsi's contract when he signed his new terms back in July. Its exact value remains unclear, but suitors like Chelsea would succeed with a bid somewhere between EUR10m and EUR15m (PS8.7m-PS13.1m).

It would be a significant price to pay for a 16-year-old, but for someone who has the potential Cubarsi is believed to, it might be a payment worth making.

Chelsea willing to meet Cubarsi clause Indeed, the report claims Chelsea would not be afraid of meeting Cubarsi's release clause. They have, after all, invested heavily in a range of young players - some for even more money - since Todd Boehly's ownership group took charge.

At first-team level, the defenders available to Mauricio Pochettino include Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill and the veteran Thiago Silva.

TEAMtalk understands Trevoh Chalobah could move across London in 2024, while Wesley Fofana is also unavailable at the moment due to injury.

The defenders ahead of Cubarsi in the pecking order for the Barcelona first team include Ronald Araujo, Inigo Martinez, Jules Kounde and former Chelsea man Andreas Christensen. Realistically, though, the teenager is just trying to prove himself with the B team for the time being.