One of the stars in Barcelona’s current team was close to playing in Romania.
We’re talking about Fermin Lopez (22 years old), a midfielder who recently extended his contract with the Catalan team until 2031.
In 2023, however, Lopez could have joined a team in Romania, which was negotiating the move with Barcelona. Xavi Hernandez, the coach of Barcelona at the time, noticed him during a training session of the first team where several La Masia-raised players were called up and took him to the preseason camp in the USA that summer.
Fermin impressed Xavi, so he stayed at Barcelona, and now he is one of the key players in Hansi Flick's team.
"There were discussions with a team from Romania, also about a possible transfer to Olot (a small team near Barcelona)," journalist Edu Polo reveals, according to Sport.
Fermin Lopez scored 10 goals and provided 11 assists in all competitions for FC Barcelona, in 26 matches (1625 minutes).