Fermin Lopez remains at Barcelona despite attempt to sell him to Chelsea | OneFootball

Barcelona star Fermin Lopez has remained at the club, despite being linked heavily with a move to Chelsea in the dying stages of the transfer window. The relationship between Lopez and the club may require some repairing though.

The 22-year-old was cited as a way of fixing Barcelona’s salary limit situation, without selling one of their starters. Having been linked to Chelsea, Manchester United and Saudi Arabia for the past six months, despite Lopez’s public declaration that he wanted to stay, Chelsea’s interest represented an opportunity for Barcelona.

Hansi Flick and Fermin Lopez against move

Manager Hansi Flick made it clear that he was planning on using Fermin throughout the season, and that he did not want him sold. Meanwhile Lopez expained after the Joan Gamper trophy against Como that he wanted to remain at Barcelona, and was not going anywhere. MD say the club’s line was that they did not want to sell him, and would only do so if he asked for a move.

Image via Alex Caparros/Getty Images

Club stance on Fermin sale disputed

However the club’s stance is disputed. Sport say that following a meeting with La Liga in mid-August discussing their salary limit situation, certain sections of Barcelona’s hierarchy were in favour of making a sale. The names of Fermin and Marc Casado came up, and while neither player indicated a desire to leave, nor did Chelsea’s interest translate into the required numbers,  there was at the very least a portion of the hierarchy at the club augering for Lopez to leave.

Chelsea interest never reached dimensions

Meanwhile Guillem Balague says that Chelsea did show interest in Lopez, but the offers leaked all came from Catalan media, which tallies with the above. Lopez did consider a move, but at no point acted on it. Previously Balague had also explained that Chelsea considered a reported €58m offer too high for Lopez.