Man Utd one of THREE Premier League giants rejected by electric Barcelona star – Exclusive
The Barcelona star was a target for three Premier League clubs this summer
Spanish star Fermin Lopez rejected interest from Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea in the summer, sources have confirmed to TEAMtalk.
The Barcelona star was at the centre of significant interest during the summer, with a host of clubs believing they could land a player who had developed a huge reputation.
TEAMtalk can confirm that early in the summer, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd all held conversations regarding Lopez, with intermediaries believing a deal could potentially be there to be done.
We understand Lopez’s camp were assessing the options available to the 23-year-old and, as part of that process, contact was made with other clubs.
However, Barcelona always insisted they remained believers in Lopez and head coach Hansi Flick has underlined that the midfielder is viewed as a huge part of their future plans.
That stance has now been justified, with Lopez emerging as an increasingly important player and both he and Barcelona ultimately deciding against a possible move away from the club.
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Lopez a key man for Barcelona
We can also confirm that part of Barcelona’s reasoning behind potentially listening to interest in Dani Olmo is their belief that they would not necessarily need to sign a replacement because of Lopez.
The Catalan giants see Lopez as capable of filling an important role within their squad, further underlining why they were reluctant to lose him despite the interest from Premier League clubs.
Arsenal, Chelsea and United were among those to explore the possibility of signing the Spain international, but Lopez ultimately remained at Barcelona and has continued to develop his standing within the club.
His emergence has also strengthened Barcelona’s position when assessing their wider squad plans, with Lopez now firmly viewed as part of their future.
The 23-year-old is currently part of the Spain squad and was involved as La Roja sealed a 3-2 victory over England at Wembley on Saturday.