Barcelona tried to offload Ousmane Dembele and Martin Braithwaite over the summer and ‘asked’ Manchester City for Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling, says Spanish outlet Sport. The Catalans giants are in financial difficulty and needed to strengthen their team while lowing their expenditure.
Barca paid £135.5m to sign Dembele in 2017 and paid the 24-year-old £10.9m-a-year in wages. They stood little chance of getting their money back through his sale, but he could be used as a makeweight to sign a replacement. That was also the thinking with Braithwaite, but City didn’t budge.
Sport say the Premier League defending champions made it clear that they wouldn’t entertain a deal for Silva and Sterling. If Ansu Fati was coming in the opposite direction, City may have been open to transfer talks. But in the end, no deal got over the line.
Barca targeted Silva and Sterling as the pair were in a ‘weakened situation’ under Pep Guardiola after disappointing domestic campaigns. Their futures at the Etihad Stadium were uncertain ahead of the new season, but they still weren’t being put up for sale.
And now the transfer window is shut, so there’s no chance of a move until January at the earliest.
In other news, Man City ‘probe the ground’ for £25.7m replacement for suspended player