This article is part of Football FanCast's Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news...

Carles Alena is currently struggling at Barcelona and according to Mundo Deportivo, Tottenham Hotspur might be looking to take advantage of that fact and sign him on a permanent deal.

Barcelona simply can't allow that to happen.

What's the word, then?

Alena, who was once likened to Andres Iniesta, was supposed to be Barca's next big thing coming from their famous La Masia academy. And for a while, it really did look like he could follow in the footsteps of Blaugrana's greats.

After all, his successful stint at Barcelona B - during which he scored a total of 18 goals and assisted a further 14 in 89 games - warranted him a promotion to the senior team that was set into motion as the ongoing 2019/20 season started.

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It really did seem like he was flying high as he was immediately given a place in the starting XI in Barcelona's curtain-raiser against Athletic Bilbao - a game they ended up losing 1-0 - but along with that defeat, Alena also lost much more than just three points.

We're now past matchday nine and there's still no sign of the 21-year-old midfielder who has been completely frozen out of the team, still clinging to a single appearance in his breakthrough season.

And now, rumours are circulating of Tottenham's interest in the La Masia talent.

New reports coming from Mundo Deportivo claim that Mauricio Pochettino is not eyeing a loan deal but rather a permanent transfer that would take Alena away from the Camp Nou for good.

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If true, that would be a huge loss for the Catalans, despite the midfielder's far from ideal current situation at the club.

But there's a way to flip the situation on its head.

Buyback clause crucial

Mundo Deportivo also mentions that Barcelona would be looking to add a buy-back option into his contract if Spurs were really adamant in securing his signature in a permanent deal. This would not be a bad thing.

Seeing how he has a €75m (£64.7m) release clause currently in his Barcelona contract, he is definitely highly rated but it's also unlikely that Tottenham will end up paying that, considering it would represent their club-record fee for a 21-year-old youngster who's not even a regular in his current squad.

While Barca will likely be loathed to lose him, they could make sure he has a way to safely return when and if the times comes.

So lowering their asking price enough for Spurs to remain interested and then inserting a favourable buy-back clause into his contract would suddenly turn this situation into a win-win scenario for the Catalans.

Not only would Alena theoretically get the minutes he so desperately needs but Barca would also have a way of recalling him in case they deem him good enough to don the Blaugrana once again.