Former president reveals Real Madrid superstar duo could have been Barcelona players | OneFootball

Former FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has claimed that both Vinicius Jr. and Kylian Mbappe came close to joining the Catalan club before eventually ending up at Real Madrid.

Speaking to ESPN ahead of this weekend’s El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid, Bartomeu, who served as president of the Catalan club between 2014 and 2020, explained that both players could have joined Barça, although Vinicius was much closer than Mbappe.

Vinicius, Mbappe could have been at Barcelona

“The club was interested in Vinicius; we spoke with his family and his agents, and there was indeed an initial agreement,” Bartomeu commented, as quoted by MARCA.

However, Real Madrid ultimately secured the Brazilian’s signature. “Madrid possibly made a better offer and ended up signing him,” the former president stated.

The situation with Mbappe was different. According to Bartomeu, AS Monaco were demanding a fee Barcelona simply could not afford at the time.

“Monaco was asking for very high figures that Barça couldn’t pay at that time,” the former president acknowledged.

“I remember speaking with Mbappe’s father a couple of times, but Paris Saint-Germain put a lot of pressure on Monaco, and I think Kylian also preferred to go to PSG, the French team.”

Barcelona tried to sign both Mbappe and Vinicius in the past. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

“We were negotiating with Ousmane Dembele, who was the coaches’ preferred player,” he explained.

On the Negreira case

Bartomeu was also questioned about the ongoing Negreira case, which continues to surround Barcelona with controversy. The former president strongly denied that the club ever attempted to influence referees.

“It has been suggested that Barça paid to buy matches or influence refereeing decisions, and this is not true. Barça paid for refereeing reports and match analysis services provided by Javier Enriquez, who is the son of Mr. Negreira,” he said.

Bartomeu added that he hopes the matter never reaches trial because, in his view, there is no evidence proving Barcelona paid referees directly.

“It’s been blown out of proportion. Obviously, the matter is under judicial review. I hope, and I’d like to take this opportunity to say that I truly believe it, that we won’t go to trial, because there is no evidence to prove that Barcelona paid a referee,” he noted.

Concluding, Bartomeu added: “All the Spanish referees have testified and said the same thing. I have never received a request, no one has ever asked me for anything.

“Therefore, there is nothing to suggest that Barça had anything to do with the results of the matches. 

“But it is true that services were provided, that there was financial compensation from the club, and we can discuss whether the amount was more or less than expected.”