Revealed: Barcelona had Deadline Day bid for key Premier League target REJECTED

Cameron Smith

3 Sept 2023 16:18 BST
4 min read

Barcelona made a late push to sign Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Giovani Lo Celso on Transfer Deadline Day, but the Blaugrana saw their loan approach knocked back by the Premier League side.

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Lo Celso had been linked with a transfer away for the entirety of the summer after spending the last 18 months on loan at Villarreal, but the Argentine remains a Tottenham player.

The transfer window has shut in Europe’s big five leagues and many others across the globe, but clubs in Saudi Arabia, Portugal and Turkey are still able to conduct business into September.

According to Spanish outlet Sport, Spurs were willing to sanction an exit if Barcelona submitted a permanent transfer offer or a loan with an obligation to buy.

However, Xavi’s side proposed a straight loan deal via an ‘informal approach’, which was of no interest to Tottenham.

Furthermore, Sport have reported that Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou views Lo Celso as a key member of his first-team squad, despite the fact he has not played a minute of Premier League action this campaign.

The Argentine was not included in Spurs’ matchday squad to face Burnley after suffering an injury against Fulham in the Carabao Cup in midweek.

Lo Celso, 27, made 51 appearances at Villarreal during his one-and-a-half year stint at the Spanish club.

Barcelona’s Deadline Day business

While Barcelona were unsuccessful in their attempts to sign Lo Celso, they did land Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix on loan deals during the final day of the summer window.

Cancelo arrived at Camp Nou from Manchester City, while Felix sealed his ‘dream’ transfer to Barca from Atletico Madrid. Felix, 23, was spotted crying during his Barcelona presentation after joining the club on a season-long loan deal.

Oriol Romeu (€3.4m), Ilkay Gunodgan (free) and Inigo Martinez (free) also joined Barcelona during the summer window.