Barcelona ignored Chelsea after ‘ridiculous’ £34m transfer bid

Barcelona refused to respond to Chelsea’s opening €40 million (£34.8m) bid for Fermin Lopez, according to reports in Spain.

Chelsea had targeted Fermin as a potential signing in the summer transfer window and held talks with the midfielder’s representatives.

However, Marca reports that Barcelona were less than impressed with Chelsea’s first move for the 22-year-old.

The report claims that Chelsea officially declared their interest in Fermin to Barcelona via an email just over a month ago.

However, Barcelona’s sporting director, Deco, ignored Chelsea’s initial €40m (£34.8m) offer as he considered the proposal ‘ridiculous’.

Barcelona decided that they would only sell if Fermin himself pushed for a move to Chelsea but would not have considered a deal below €70m (£60.9m).

However, the midfielder was intent on staying at Camp Nou and Chelsea did not follow up with another offer.

Speaking before deadline day, Barcelona head coach, Hansi Flick, made it clear that he wanted Fermin to stay at the club.

‘At the moment he is here. I have spoken to him and I am convinced that he is going to stay,’ Flick said.

‘In the end, I don’t know what will happen. He’s here and I’ll be happy when the market is over.

‘I have told him my opinion. Players and their environments think things. There are people who may know more things, but I’m happy that Fermin plays for us and he showed it last season. His style is different from others, and he can help us a lot.

‘He is a player who is aggressive on the pitch without and with the ball, also when he comes in from the penultimate line. He’s a great player at scoring, making the final pass.

‘When he’s on the pitch and he’s in good spirits, you can see it – ‘long live Barca, love Barca’. I don’t want to say much, but the club is in his heart.’

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