It was no secret that Barcelona tried to sign at least one player during last January’s transfer window. Memphis Depay’s departure to Atletico Madrid looked to have opened up an opportunity for the Catalans, but in the end, no one arrived.
That was not for the lack of trying though. The club’s sporting department were desperately looking to sign players, with two key areas being looked at: right-back and defensive midfield. Barcelona even had two specific players lined up to fill these roles, with Sport reporting that they were Benjamin Pavard and Arthur Melo.
However, it was not head coach Xavi Hernandez that turned these deals down, but rather two of his (now departed) players. Ousmane Dembele told his manager that Pavard would be a problem in the dressing room, which dissuaded a move for the then-Bayern Munich defender. Meanwhile, Sergio Busquets believed that Arthur – who had previously played for Barcelona before joining Juventus in 2020 – wouldn’t be a good leader for the club’s younger players, so a possible loan move was also ruled out.
In the end, both Dembele and Busquets were perhaps vindicated in their assessments as Barcelona have since gone on to sign better players during the recent summer transfer window. They ended up not needing either player during last season anyway as they romped to the La Liga title.
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