Barcelona met with Keirrison last week

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Palmeiras forward Keirrison (20) met personally with Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain and Barcelona board member Albert Perrín last week (read more here).

Over the last months, the Brazilian striker would already have had several personal contacts with Barcelona scout Pepe Costa.

The Brazilian striker wants to join Barcelona and would have told people from his entourage that the presence of Eto'o and Henry is a good thing because they would make it possible for him to grow tactically and physically without too much pressure.

Keirrison has a contract with Traffic until 30 June 2013, including a buyout clause of 50 million euro°. Traffic owns eighty per cent of his transfer rights, while Palmeiras owns the other twenty per cent. If Barcelona signs him in the summer, Keirrison would not leave on loan.

Madrid sports tabloid As claims that Traffic wants to keep the player at Palmeiras until the World Cup in 2010 because that way Keirrison would have more possibilities to be part of the Brazilian squad. A source at the sports marketing agency is quoted as saying: "He won't leave Brazil until he has exhausted all his chances to go to the World cup."

Asked about his teammate, former Barcelona player José Edmílson meanwhile described Keirrison as follows in an interview with Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo: "He's a goalscorer. It's not a fantasy player but if he has three or four chances, he'll surely score one. It's a box player.

For me, he's similar to Batistuta. He's very good with the head and he's fast. In Brazil, you won't find a second player like him, so it would be a good transfer for Barcelona. I think he's prepared to deal with the pressure at Barça, although I'd recommend that he stays with us for another year to keep on growing."

Read more:
Principal agreement with Keirrison
Barcelona plans at least four summer transfers
All parties involved deny deal on Keirrison


Watch this video of Keirrison: