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 desperately trying to sign a new winger and had Leao in their sights after missing out on Nico Williams.
Signing the Portuguese international from Milan was never going to be easy because of the finances involved as well as the club’s iffy Fair Play situation.
But that did not stop Joan Laporta & co. from making a strong push to try and secure a deal for Leao.
La Liga closed the doors
Indeed, as per the report, Barcelona went about 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 it would allow enough Fair Play margin for the club to register him if he joined.
Despite the MOU laying out the broad terms of the agreement with Nike, La Liga rejected the preliminary deal. The league’s rejection came amid significant pressure from Barcelona’s president, Joan Laporta.
La Liga president Javier Tebas even reached out to Alejandro Echevarría, Laporta’s advisor, to insist that the Barcelona chief abandon his pursuit.
Tebas also made it clear that the league would not adopt a lenient stance as it had in previous cases, such as the registration of Dani Olmo by accepting Andreas Christensen’s long-term injury.
La Liga’s decision was based on the complex financial, strategic, and treasury implications of the deal, which required a thorough review by the league’s legal team. Essentially, the agreement could not be approved without addressing these intricate issues.
Barcelona eventually ended the summer with just two signings – Olmo and Pau Victor. But the situation is expected to improve in the coming weeks with the Nike deal close to being completed.
*Player valuation in title obtained from transfermarkt.com on date of publication.
