Barcelona president confirms club rejected mammoth €200 million offer for La Masia gem

Barcelona have a lot on their plate heading into the summer transfer window, but perhaps nothing bigger than offloading players. The club is in a financial mess, and this summer could be the final piece of the puzzle.

However, as it turns out, there are not too many Barcelona players that can be sold for a big sum without compromising quality.

Initially, there were reports of Ronald Araujo, Frenkie de Jong, and a few others heading towards the exit ramp, but it seems Barça have decided to retain their ‘spine’ so they can continue to be competitive.

And among players who have been deemed ‘untouchable’ Barcelona also have 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, who has already taken Europe by storm this season by being one of the best players in his position.

€200 million offer

For a club in the kind of financial mess Barcelona are in, selling one of their important players could easily be their easy ticket out. However, not at the cost of compromising competitiveness in the short-term.

Barcelona even received a mammoth €200 million offer for Yamal, but turned it down, as confirmed by Joan Laporta, via SPORT.

“We are getting offers for players like Lamine Yamal, for €200 million, and we have said no. Because, we trust the boy, in his sports projection, and we do not have the need, on the contrary [to sell him],” the president said.

“We are in a process of economic recovery and can already see the end of the tunnel,” he added confidently.

If reports can be trusted, this €200 million mega offer came from none other than PSG, who wanted to replace Kylian Mbappe with Yamal. However, after learning from their mistakes, Barcelona have armed the teenager with a €1 billion release clause instead of €222 million.

Offers galore

Laporta also confirmed that there have been offers for other important players, as well, including the La Masia trio of Gavi, Fermin Lopez, and Alejandro Balde.

“We have had offers for Alejandro Balde, Fermin, for very important Gavi, Pedri, de Jong, Araujo. But we do not want to sell them.”

“Only with the names I have told you, we would be at a figure of €1 billion in income,” Laporta went on to add, almost confirming that there have been multiple €100 million offers on the table.