Malcom misses Barcelona training to finalise Zenit move

Barcelona winger Malcom missed training on Thursday in order to finalise a move away from the club, with Zenit his expected destination.

The 22-year-old is reportedly due to be in St Petersburg on Friday to complete a medical after Barca accepted an offer in the region of €40million.

In a short message published on Twitter, Barca said: “Malcom is not training with permission of the club in order to resolve his future.”

The Brazilian joined the Catalans from Bordeaux last year in a deal rising to €42m, after making a late decision to head to Camp Nou rather than Roma in Serie A.

However, he managed just six starts in LaLiga under Ernesto Valverde in 2018-19 and scored only four goals in 25 appearances in total in all competitions.

Barca are believed to be eager to generate funds after signing Frenkie de Jong, Neto and Antoine Griezmann in deals that could cost as much as €241m overall.

They recouped €35m for Jasper Cillessen, who moved to Valencia, while the departures of Andre Gomes, Paco Alcacer, Denis Suarez and Marc Cardona have helped to bolster their funds.

The sale of Malcom could help in their pursuit of Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar, although any deal for the forward, who left in a €222m deal two years ago, is seemingly far from completion.