Former Barcelona board member Joan Soler has confirmed that Chelsea made a ‘very significant’ offer to sign Fermin Lopez last summer.
Chelsea prioritised overhauling their attack heading into the 2025/26 campaign, with Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Alejandro Garnacho, Jamie Gittens all arriving through the doors for a combined fee of around £175million.
A possible big-money deal for Lopez had also been mooted throughout the window and reports emanating out of Spain claimed the Club World Cup holders had tested Barcelona’s resolve with a ‘dizzying’ bid for the Spain international.
Manchester United were believed to be rivalling Chelsea within the race for Lopez, who was said to have grown frustrated along with his bit-part role under Barca head coach Hansi Flick.
Nonetheless, the Spanish champions made it clear they’d no intention of losing their La Masia academy graduate and the 22-year-old decided to remain put to be able to fight for an everyday starting berth on the Camp Nou.
Lopez has gone on to rack up 11 goals and 12 assists in 32 appearances for Barca this season, with the club holding a one-point advantage over Real Madrid at the highest of La Liga.
And earlier this month, Lopez committed his long-term future to the Catalan giants by putting pen to paper on a contract extension – containing a €500m release clause – that runs through to 2031.
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‘There was a really significant offer for Fermin from Chelsea in the summertime, however the player didn’t want to go away and we didn’t wish to sell,’ Soler, who recently stepped down from his position on the board at Barcelona, explained to Cadena SER.
‘Barca shouldn’t be a selling club and we have now to retain our homegrown players.
‘We also had a €250m offer to sell Lamine Yamal in recent times. It got here through agents and that deal didn’t undergo either.’
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In line with Soler, it’s ‘very essential’ for Barcelona’s stability and success going forward which are capable of keep hold of real homegrown talent like Pedri, Yamal and Lopez.
‘Keeping Lamine and the talented children has been successful for Deco,’ he added.
‘They’ve all had great offers and preferred to remain. They feel the club is theirs and we’ve managed to create a club where the players feel like they belong.
‘That may be very essential for achieving success.’
Once the transfer window had closed last summer, Lopez insisted he never even considered the prospect of moving on from the Camp Nou.
‘I even have never hesitated about staying,’ he told the Spanish media.
‘I’ll fight to stay at Barca for a few years.’
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