Barcelona close to signature of 18-year-old Dutch centre-back

Barcelona are reportedly closing in on the signature of Dutch talent Juwensley Onstein. The 18-year-old seems set to leave Genk before the end of the transfer window.

It has been reported by Matteo Moretto that Barcelona are close to an agreement with the Belgian club, and Onstein has already given the club the green light on his end. The Italian transfer journalist notes that Barcelona strongly believe in his talents, and are willing to construct a personalised growth plan for Onstein within their youth ranks.

El Barcelona quiere a Juwensley Onstein, defensa central holandés del Jong Genk.

El acuerdo entre los clubes está cerca.

El club español cree firmemente en las cualidades del joven y quiere construirle un plan ad hoc para su crecimiento.

Juwensley Onstein ya ha dado el sí al… pic.twitter.com/oDIL3lD9GV

— Matteo Moretto (@MatteMoretto) January 23, 2026

AC Milan also close to signature

Less than 24 hours before, it was reported by Moretto (via Sempre Milan) that Onstein was on the verge of signing for AC Milan. The Italian side were set to bring Onstein in and put him into their under-20 side. However with an agreement done, talks have now stalled with the clubs exchanging documents. It is not clear whether the Rossoneri are still in contention for his signature.

Onstein’s career so far

Starting off at Vitesse Arnhem in his native Netherlands, Onstein made the switch to Ajax’s youth academy in 2019 for a fee of €12k. Two years ago though, as a 16-year-old, Onstein left to play for Genk in Belgium. At international level, Onstein was capped for the under-16s, and over the last two years has made five appearances for the Netherlands under-18 side.

🚨 BREAKING: FC Barcelona’s presidency elections will be held on March 15th. [@rac1] pic.twitter.com/Ywi8SgIyaz

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) January 22, 2026

Onstein is out of contract in the summer, hence big clubs had begun circling. Yet to make his debut with the Genk senior side, he has played 16 times for their affiliate side. Standing at 188cm (6ft 2′) tall already, Onstein is a left-sided central defender.

Barcelona are also thought to be close to securing the signatures of winger Ajay Tavares and forward Hamza Abdelkarim to bolster their youth ranks before the end of the window.