Barcelona forced to release 15-year-old Kays Ruiz after FIFA sanction

/COURTESY

Paris Saint Germain have stepped up their battle with Barcelona by signing youth star the “new Lionel Messi”, who the Catalans were forced to release.

The French giants stayed firm when faced with intense interest in superstar Marco Verratti before breaking the world record to meet Neymar‘s £198million buy-out clause, According to the Sun.

Signature d'un contrat aspirant pour le jeune Kays Ruiz (15 ans)

?? https://t.co/U8MVSnmxVL pic.twitter.com/xUEMYN2z95

— PSG Officiel (@PSG_inside) September 13, 2017

They then reportedly got involved in Barcelona’s negotiations with Nice for midfielder Jean Michael Seri, which forced the deal to fall through — before refusing to sell Angel Di Maria to Barcelona.

And now they have confirmed they have snapped up 15-year-old Kays Ruiz on a five-year contract.

PSG posted a picture on Twitter of the starlet holding a shirt alongside Maxwell.

French teenager Kays was at La Masia from the age of seven.

However, he was one of the players who was forced to leave the club in 2015, when they were hit with a FIFA sanction due to the irregular signing of minors.

Kays, was born on August 26, 2002, was considered by far the best player of his age group when he was forced to leave at 12 years old.

 And had even been labelled the new Messi.

As Kays is only 15, he has signed a pre-contract.

When he turns 16 — which is the legal minimum — he will sign a professional deal.