Barcelona were in contacts with several clubs and players in January, especially on deadline day, making last-ditch attempts to fix some holes in their team. Two players, in particular, were close to joining them on 31st January.
Julian Araujo was one of them, with Barcelona and LA Galaxy having reached an agreement, too. However, the paperwork arrived 18 seconds post-deadline, and the move collapsed, leaving the Mexican defender in MLS.
The other player was Sofyan Amrabat. Barcelona had made a loan-plus-purchase offer to Fiorentina worth €40 million, but it was rejected by the Serie A outfit. In a complicated financial place, the Catalans did not end up countering it.
Amrabat was evidently pushing to move to Barcelona, too. He had skipped training for the day, and was in personal contacts with Fiorentina’s president trying to get him to accept Barça’s proposal.
In fact, the player was so keen on moving to Barça, recent reports from Achraf Ben Ayad have stated that Amrabat had offers from Chelsea and Manchester United, but only wanted a move to Barcelona.
He even offered to play for free for Barça, and had offered Fiorentina all his salary that he would receive from the Catalans.
The Moroccan had an exceptional World Cup campaign, and is on the radar of several clubs. Barcelona have to accelerate any move they want to make for him in the summer.
