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In a major update, Bar Canaletes claims that in August, FC Barcelona made a concerted effort to acquire AC Milan and Portugal winger Rafael Leao.
THE Blaugrana were desperate to sign a new winger and had Leao in their sights after missing out on Nico Williams.
Signing the Portuguese international from Milan was not going to be easy due to the finances involved as well as the club’s questionable fair play record.
But that hasn’t stopped Joan Laporta and his team from making a big effort to try and secure a deal for Leao.
La Liga has closed its doors
Indeed, according to the report, Barcelona continued their pursuit of Leao by presenting La Liga with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlined their intention to sign a contract with Nike, with the idea that this would leave enough fair play room for the club to register him if he joined.
Despite the memorandum of understanding that sets out the broad outlines of the deal with Nike, La Liga has rejected the preliminary agreement. This rejection comes under significant pressure from FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta.
La Liga president Javier Tebas even contacted Laporta’s advisor Alejandro Echevarría to urge the Barcelona boss to drop his pursuit.
Tebas also made it clear that the league would not take a lenient stance as it had in previous cases, such as signing up Dani Olmo while accepting Andreas Christensen’s long-term injury.
La Liga’s decision was based on the complex financial, strategic and cash flow implications of the deal, which required a thorough review by the league’s legal team. In essence, the deal could not be approved without addressing these complex issues.
FC Barcelona finally ended the summer with only two signings: Olmo and Pau Victor. But the situation should improve in the coming weeks, with the agreement with Nike close to being finalized.
*Player rating in the title obtained on transfermarkt.com at the time of publication.
