Boca Juniors director Mauricio Serna has admitted Valentin Barco’s family made life difficult for them before his move to Brighton and Hove Albion in January.
Serna has been speaking to Infobae about the defender’s move earlier this year, which proved to be a controversial one to say the least.
The left-back had been linked with the Seagulls since the summer but was unable to agree a move at that point, remaining in Argentina until the winter window.
Brighton came back at that point and ultimately elected to buy him via his release clause, something that led to absolute fury at Boca Juniors.
The tone from Boca has regularly been that the Brighton defender and his entourage acted unfairly in negotiations, with the Argentine club seemingly feeling that he should have signed a new deal and removed his relatively low release clause to ensure they got a bigger fee from the Seagulls.
Serna has now reiterated that stance, insisting that he and the rest of Boca’s leadership found the player’s family troublesome.
“We met with his family many times and yes, many times we did not have a good relationship, or the meetings did not go the way we thought,” he said.
“Maybe not only because they defended their positions and we thought they were wrong, but also for them it may be that we were the wrong ones.
“When there is a negotiation, it is easier between the two, when there are more people, everything is much more complex.”
