Playing for 90
Fansided

Barcelona’s big transfer deal ruined by agent

By Rucker Haringey

FLORENCE, ITALY - JUNE 05: Marco Verratti of Italy (L) and Italy Doctor Enrico Castellacci chat prior to the training session at Coverciano at Coverciano on June 05, 2017 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
FLORENCE, ITALY - JUNE 05: Marco Verratti of Italy (L) and Italy Doctor Enrico Castellacci chat prior to the training session at Coverciano at Coverciano on June 05, 2017 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Officials at Barcelona should be furious

Barcelona had grand transfer designs on renovating their midfield. Unfortunately, a player’s agent has ruined their best laid plans. If Donato Di Campli had kept his mouth shut perhaps Marco Verratti would still be on his way to Spain.

Unfortunately, the agent’s comments have all but eliminated any chance Barcelona have to purchase the PSG star. In case you missed it, Di Campli elected to call his client a “prisoner” of PSG yesterday. Furthermore, he claimed that Verratti was desperate to ditch the French giants in favour of a move to Barcelona.

You can be sure that Verratti had more than a few angry words for his representative. He was forced to backtrack via the PSG website. The talented midfielder issued a blanket apology to everyone associated with the club. He made it clear that his agent’s words did not represent his true beliefs with PSG.

The truth is that Di Campli’s words were probably the truth. Verratti has made it very obvious that his preference would be to line up with the likes of Messi, Neymar and Suarez next season. PSG are a terrific club with big time financial resources, but they don’t have the same talent that Barca possess.

That doesn’t mean that Verratti wanted his agent to broadcast his inner thoughts to the public at large though. Instead, he would have preferred to remain silent on the matter of his summer plans. That silence would have allowed him to move to Barcelona without being branded a villain by the club’s passionate fan base.

More from FC Barcelona

Remaining neutral is no longer a possibility. Di Campli’s declaration put his client in a very awkward position. Now that Verratti has come out and claimed he’s happy to stay at PSG, it removes any need for PSG to engage Barcelona in meaningful transfer discussions. They don’t want to sell, and now they don’t have to.

The only way a deal was ever going to be consummated was if Verratti was willing to strongly agitate for a move. Now that he’s gone public with his affection for PSG, he’s unable to exert real pressure on the club.

Add it all up and it’s a bitter pill for Barcelona to swallow. If things would have stayed quiet it’s very likely they could have gotten a deal over the line. A little pressure from Verratti combined with a massive financial outlay would have probably been enough to convince PSG to sell.

Next: Real Madrid and Barcelona battling for Spanish star

As it stands, Barcelona will need to look elsewhere to solve their midfield problems. That won’t make Ernesto Valverde’s job any easier.

Home/FC Barcelona