Barcelona captain rejected lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia for personal reasons – report

Despite his struggle for fitness and playing time, Sergi Roberto is an example and a true leader in the dressing room.

As the captain of FC Barcelona, he is an example of how to deal with adverse situations with professionalism and place the club over personal interests.

His continuity at the club beyond this summer, however, is under a cloud of doubt. Xavi is in favour of the captain’s continuity, but with the manager’s future itself in jeopardy, a departure looks to be the more likely option for Roberto.

The Saudi proposal

As revealed in a recent report by Mundo Deportivo, Saudi Arabian clubs have already been in the Barcelona star’s pursuit for a long time now. In fact, the player has had a concrete offer on the table for months now which he has rejected.

Al Qadsiah, a team in the Saudi League’s second division, provided Roberto with a juicy offer not too long ago. With former Real Madrid player Michel now coaching the side, they look poised to secure promotion to the first division for next season.

Roberto’s decision to reject the offer was taken for personal, and not financial reasons. His wife, Coral Simanovich, is the step-daughter of Israeli singer Pnina Rosenblum, and a move to Saudi Arabia would thus not be accommodating.

After all, the Israel-Palestine war has aggravated in recent times, with the Arabs in favour of the Palestinian state.

Not the only target

With Barcelona in a difficult economic situation, the club are forced to make some big sales in the upcoming summer transfer window. Saudi Arabia, needless to say, are alert over the availability of some big names.

As revealed earlier today, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen are all on the radars of top Saudi clubs, and it remains to be seen if the Middle-Eastern-based league manages to secure the big fish.

For Barcelona, the situation is now about deciding which players to sacrifice for the greater good.