Espanyol midfielder opens up on past approach from Barcelona: ‘My father met with Deco’ | OneFootball

Gabriel Moscardo was one of young gems scouted and shortlisted by Barcelona in the summer of 2023. Still at Corinthians, the player was playing at a tremendous level in the youth categories and caught Deco’s eye.

PSG, Barcelona and Chelsea were all interested in his signing, especially given that he was just 17 years of age and had a special future ahead of him.

Barcelona seemingly began to lead the race after Deco was said to be in ‘love’ with the player’s profile, but eventually it did not come to fruition.

In January 2024, the player finally earned a transfer, albeit to PSG for a €20 million fee.

Moscardo explains the backstory

Deco was ‘in love’ with the player. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)

Speaking to the media in a recent interview, the now Espanyol player opened up on his failed transfer to Barcelona and why the deal did not work out.

He first began by explaining Deco’s interest in signing him and how the Barcelona sporting director even met his father in 2023.

“When I was in the U-20, we played a competition here in Switzerland and my father met with Deco and everything. I used to play in the U-20, and there Corinthians stipulated a price,” he said.

After seeing the player make his debut in professional senior level football, Deco was convinced of the signing but the player’s club bargained hard. They held out for a larger fee, and Barcelona eventually dropped out of the race.

“After starting to play in the first team, things changed. Corinthians got tough when it came to selling, and things didn’t go ahead,” he said, explaining the same.

Moscardo currently plays for RCD Espanyol. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Moscardo, however, was clear that he has no regrets of not joining Barcelona and admitted that the failed move brought with it several positives.

“I’m very happy that it didn’t happen, that I didn’t progress, because I was able to play more in Corinthians, I could play professionally at home and I had the opportunity to sign later for Paris Saint-Germain as well.”

“When that option appeared, I didn’t think twice and signed quickly,” he added.

Now at Espanyol, the player will soon face Barcelona in the Catalan derby and he opened up on how excited he is for the clash.

“I’m looking forward to the derby. And also playing for Espanyol. What I want is to play and beat Barça with Espanyol. I know it’s very important for the fans, for the club, and on January 3 we’ll go with everything.”

Finally, he was asked if he saw his side to have a chance of winning the derby, to which he said,

“We can win, we know they have a good team, but so do we. I want to win, but not to tell Deco that he was wrong not to sign me, but for Espanyol, for the Espanyol fans.”

Source: SPORT