Barcelona forward Christian Tello is on the verge of returning to Fiorentina after Luis Enrique allowed the move. This will come as a blow to Southampton after they held talks to sign the Spaniard last month.
The youngster spent last season on loan with Fiorentina after finding his chances limited at Barcelona. The Spanish side have already sanctioned the move, and all that needs to be agreed now is the loan fee.
In June we covered reports from Italy that Southampton officials travelled to Spain to hold talks with Barcelona and also Tello’s agent.
With Sadio Mane leaving for Liverpool this summer, Southampton were keen to bring in Tello to fill this void. With the competition for places in the attacking areas at Barcelona it was expected Tello would again have to find a club for next season.
Barcelona have been very keen to offload Tello, and it’s curious why, if Southampton were as interested as stated, they weren’t able to get a deal done.
