The untimely offer that Josep Samitier, Barça's first star, rejected

BarcelonaMore than a century has passed since his debut with the first team, but his name still resonates among Barça fans. Josep Samitier, the great media star of Barça in the 1920s, remains part of the pantheon of Barcelona legends. The adjective "media star" is fitting because, in addition to being a phenomenal footballer who led the club's first golden age, he also had an unprecedented reach for a player of that era. Countless magazine covers, advertisements, films, and even friendships with idols from other areas of the entertainment world, such as Carlos Gardel and Maurice Chevalier, are proof that this player transcended the boundaries of the pitch to become an icon of Catalan society in the early 20th century.

Those initiated into Barça's history will remember that the Lobster Man – as Samitier was known – debuted for the club in 1919, at just seventeen years old, and quickly secured a place in the starting lineup, initially as a midfielder – the forward line of the early 1920s was like that. His career lasted until Christmas 1932, fourteen seasons in which he steadily accumulated championship titles, both in Catalonia and at the national level. But it wasn't all smooth sailing, because during his time there, ups and downs were frequent due to his eccentric character, which too often led him to act like a real clown. He was defeated by the most maroon of Espanyol and of Europe – the two great rivals of the time –, made offensive gestures towards his own fans during a match against Everton, toured with other clubs without Barça's permission, but also scored four goals against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu and one against Espanyol in a slalom run more commonly seen up to that point.

So, almost everything has already been written about Samitier, but from time to time new things still emerge to tell. In this sense, what few Barça fans will know is that Samitier came very close to leaving Barça at the height of his popularity to go and play in none other than the United States, where there was a desire to see stars with renowned prestige in the Old Continent. Indeed, in 1926 the Catalan player received an offer to sign for the Brooklyn Wanderers in New York, a proposal, without a doubt, tempting. This team was founded in 1894 and was part of the core group that created the National Association Football League, an early competition in that country that ceased to exist in 1899.

The club's most successful period came in the 1920s, competing in the American Soccer League (ASL), a championship formed in 1922 after the merger of several smaller tournaments. The Wanderers regularly finished in the top five, and in 1926 they even won the one-off International Soccer League, a competition held that summer between three ASL teams and four of Canada's top clubs. From the 1930s onward, the Wanderers' star began to decline, marked by a series of dissolutions and re-foundings, until 1948 when, plagued by financial difficulties, they were sold to new owners and became Hakoak of Brooklyn, a Jewish-affiliated club.

Nat Agar, a tycoon with a penchant for revelry

Behind the Wanderers' greatest years was a singular figure, the magnate Nat Agar (1888-1978), born in England, who orchestrated the attempt to bring Samitier to the city of skyscrapers. At the beginning of the 20th century, Agar emigrated to the United States and there quickly became involved in the world of [unclear - possibly "business" or "resources"]. soccer A New Yorker, he founded clubs and became a key figure in the American sports world. Alongside this, he was also a footballer, playing for several clubs in the city until hanging up his boots with the Brooklyn Wanderers in 1925, a club he had owned for three years. Samitier's already widespread fame throughout Europe at that time was the reason Agar tried to make him a draw for American fans. The offer the Barcelona star received, according to press reports at the time, consisted of a salary of $150 per week, a nine-month contract—the length of the season—and a first-class transatlantic trip. But was that a lot of money? Converted to pesetas at the exchange rate of the time, it would be approximately 1,050 pesetas per week, or 4,200 per month. At Barça, he was earning around 800 pesetas a month, not including the thin bonus. He was part of the trio of highest-paid players, along with Piera and Sagi, and Alcántara would join them during the season. Therefore, the American offer was roughly four times what he earned at Barça. Ultimately, however, the Catalan star preferred the comfort of continuing to play at Barça to Agar's dollars and the American adventure, so he stayed with the Blaugrana until December 1932, when he and Piera were both dismissed from the club.