Manchester United signing Sofyan Amrabat was ‘top of the priority list’ for Barcelona after the World Cup but a lack of movement from the Catalans forced him to look elsewhere.
That’s according to Catalan newspaper Sport, who say Barcelona manager Xavi was determined to sign the Moroccan midfielder as a replacement for Sergio Busquets.
They explain that Amrabat’s performances in Qatar had attracted everyone’s interest, including Barcelona, who ‘valued him very seriously’ as a replacement for Busquets, who eventually left this summer for MLS.
Amrabat wanted to join Barcelona, which may be true but is something that Sport and the Catalan press say regarding every player on the planet, and a deal was pushed for in the January window.
The Catalans returned once the season ended, even putting him top of the list of priorities ahead of the likes of Martin Zubimendi and Ruben Neves.
Differences over the transfer cost meant a deal was ruled out, though, and they instead moved to sign the cheap option in Oriol Romeu.
When Amrabat learned that Barcelona were ‘abandoning’ their pursuit, he set his sights on England, where Manchester United and Liverpool began a bid to acquire him.
Fiorentina again made things difficult, but it was eventually Manchester United who won the race, securing a loan deal at the last minute that will include a purchase clause for next summer.
That brought an end to months of Catalan speculation that he could have ended up at Barcelona, and they had him at the top of their list but couldn’t get a deal done due to that pesky issue of having no money.
