“There was an agreement” for Vinicius to go to Barcelona
The former Barcelona president spoke about almost signing Vinicius Jr for the club.
Former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has revealed that there was an agreement in place to sign Vinicius Jr from Flamengo before his move to Real Madrid was finalised.
Bartomeu, who was president of the Catalan club between 2014 and 2020, overseeing 4 LaLiga title wins, 4 Copas del Rey, and a Champions League, spoke to ESPN about his time at the helm, revealing news of the agreement.
“Vinicius was of interest to the club, we spoke with his family, with his agents, and there was indeed an initial agreement,” Bartomeu said. “Madrid possibly made a better offer than Barça and took Vinicius.”
“We were the club in the world that earned the most money”
The entrepreneur also spoke about the club’s interest in signing Kylian Mbappé, now at Real Madrid, from AS Monaco. “Monaco was asking for very high figures that Barça could pay at that time,” he said. “We were the club in the world that earned the most money, the one with the best ratios. Well, the truth is that we are in a very, very good financial situation,” he added.
“I remember speaking with Mbappé’s father a couple of times, but Paris Saint-Germain put a lot of pressure on Monaco, and I think Mbappé also preferred to go to PSG, a French team. We were negotiating with Ousmane Dembélé, who was the coaches’ preferred player.”
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