Chelsea made “important offer” for rising star with 23 G/A – but signed Garnacho and Gittens instead | OneFootball

Fermin Lopez was a player Chelsea were being linked to a lot last summer, and our interest has now been confirmed by a senior Barcelona figure.

We heard a lot back in the summer about Chelsea’s interest in a few players, and one who came up a lot was Fermin Lopez.

The Barcelona attacker was linked repeatedly with a potential move to Chelsea, and we now have confirmation that it was very serious. Former Barca board member Joan Soler has confirmed that the Blues tried to sign the 22 year old:

“There was a very important offer for Fermín from Chelsea this summer, but the player didn’t want to leave, and we didn’t want to sell,” he said in quotes picked up by SportWitness.

Fermin shuts down potential move talk with major Barca contract

Fermin Lopez playing for Barcelona. (Photo by Judit Cartiel/Getty Images)

Fermin has now proved that dedicated to his boyhood club by signing a contract extension until 2031 with a huge release clause, all but ending the chances of a potential move to Chelsea.

The Blues ended up signing Jamie Gittens and Alejandro Garnacho as their wide options. It’s fair to say neither has really pulled up any trees. Meanwhile Fermin has proved his value to Barcelona with really impressive stats this season – he’s scored 11 and got 12 assists in his 32 appearances.

It sounds like he was never interested in coming anyway – but boy would we love to have signed him.

In other news…

One attacker who Chelsea did  sign was Kendry Paez, way back in 2023. He’s not had a good time of it since, and there has today been more bad news about his progress.

The race for the top 5 is going to be so tight now, and Gary Lineker’s take on the final lineup is rather interesting for Chelsea fans…

Check out the latest edition of Simon Phillips’ SPTC podcast here: