The internal pressures that have moved Fermín López's chair

Barcelona"I never doubted." With this forceful headline in an interview with Sports World Since the concentration with the Spanish national team, Fermín López has wanted to close the series that has marked the last few days of the transfer market for Barça. The ruling is in line with the wishes of the Andalusian footballer, who has so far resisted the temptation of an offer from Chelsea that improved his terms; on the advice of his representatives, who recommended that he take the interest with a positive view. blue, and also in the negotiating predisposition of Barça and its management, which has had to endorse until 12 million to unlock registrations Juan García, Rashford, Gerard Martín, Szczesny, and Bardghji. Fermín has withstood a multi-pronged pressure, with manager Hansi Flick and certain locker room figures such as Ter Stegen, Pedri, and Araujo edging in the other direction.

According to this newspaper, Chelsea contacted the El Campillo midfielder's representatives after learning that Barça was willing to listen to offers for players who weren't undisputed in the team's starting lineup. The financial need, aggravated by the sustained delays in the Camp Nou construction work, initially resulted in behind-the-scenes moves by Jorge Mendes to try to place Marc Casadó at his satellite club, Wolverhampton, England. There was talk of €30 million to transfer the Sant Pere de Vilamajor midfielder, an amount that would have entered the club's accounts cleanly and, in turn, would have reduced the pressure on the pockets of the guarantor directors. But Flick, who a few days ago expressed "lack of interest in the financial situation," responded by starting Casadó against Levante, which dispelled the player's few doubts about a possible change of scenery.

Days after this sequence, Chelsea, aware of Barça's financial needs, made a serious move for Fermín. The English club communicated their interest to the player's agents, and Barça took just a few hours to value him first at 60 million and then, seeing the negative impact of the news on social media, at 90 million. "There's a mambo," a member of the board admitted to ARA on the day it was published that the English club, which had already made the move three summers ago, favor By taking Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the last day of the transfer window, he once again presented himself as a financial savior in exchange for impoverishing the squad with little room for reaction.

That the offer was not a smokescreen was reflected in the 48-hour deadline that Fermín was given by his agents to make a decision, a period that the footballer endured with a sour face in training and that Barça took advantage of to leak that they would only sell him if they received a "Premier League offer." Ultimately, the impasse dragged on for several days and Chelsea, who had never offered more than 50 million euros, understood that Fermín was not willing to enter into the game of musical chairs, something that he had already communicated internally to Flick and his closest colleagues.

Fermín turns the page with Gavi

In parallel (or not) with the real possibility of him leaving for the Premier League, Fermín has experienced a preseason and a start to the season marked by instability. During the Asian tour, Flick left him out of the third match against Daegu and then He explained that he had not been "happy" with it. Barça sources consulted by ARA link this interpretation of the coach with the coexistence problems that the Andalusian has had with Pablo Gavi, which reached a particularly sensitive peak at the end of the trip to South Korea and just upon returning to Barcelona.

In fact, shortly after landing in Catalonia, Fermín posted a cryptic (and critical) text on Instagram in the midst of the storm over Ter Stegen's captaincy. Although he deleted it a few minutes later, it served to reignite the conflict the day after the publication and ended with Gavi only training for a few days. Questioned specifically about his relationship with the Los Palacios player, Fermín has opted to move on. "Since I joined La Masia, he's been my friend, like my brother [...] We have a good relationship, as always, and I have nothing more to say," he states in the interview on Sports World.

Be that as it may, after a few days of uncertainty and after speaking personally with the player about wanting him to stay, Flick retains a very important asset in the rotation and a first-class substitute. No Barça midfielder participated in more goals than Fermín López last season.