Madrid, Sep 10: Barcelona and AS Roma are set to engage in a transfer battle once more as according to reports, both the clubs are weighing a January move for Sassuolo attacker Domenico Berardi.

The two sides are once again chasing the same target, but this time Roma would certainly hope that it doesn’t end the same way as it did in the summer with Malcom.

During the Summer window, AS Roma were all set to land the Brazilian winger from Bordeaux. Roma even made a formal announcement on their official social media handle only to see the player making a U-turn and completing a £36.5m switch to Camp Nou.

But this time around the Serie A club is said to be gearing up all their efforts not to be involved in a transfer battle again and apparently have already contacted the player.

According to the Spanish press, Barcelona are interested in Sassuolo's Domenico Berardi. Roma have also long been linked to Berardi.

Could be a Malcom Part 2.

— Raffaele (@ItalianoCalcio) September 8, 2018

Barcelona too reportedly is reliant on making the Italian their star January signing as the Catalan side looked to strengthen their squad further to challenge on all three fronts i.e. La Liga, Champions League, and Copa Del Ray. The Spanish clubs reportedly eye Berardi as a backup of Suarez and look to work on the good relationship between the Blaugrana and Sassuolo, who signed Marlon from the club this summer.

Berardi has long been regarded as one of the top talents in the Italian football. He burst into the scenes in 2013/14 where he weighed in with 16 goals and six assists, following that up with 15 goals and 10 assists in 2014/15. For the last two years, the stakes have fallen with the player managing just five goals from 33 outings last term.

But this season the 24-year-old seemed to have regained his long lost touch and already have scored four goals in four games. This has again intensified some of the top clubs in Europe and a January battle might befall on the cards soon.

The attacker, however, has a contract with the Serie A club till 2022 and as per reports, any interested side now might have to shell out now as much €40-50m due to his reputation as one of Italy’s brightest prospects.

All along, Berardi has been a standout performer for the Neroverdi, directly contributing to 112 goals in 196 competitive games since joining them in 2012.