A figure high up in Barcelona's organisation has revealed that the Catalan club turned down the chance to sign Paul Pogba this summer, claiming that a deal with Juventus meant that they had the 'priority option' to sign the 23-year-old midfielder.
Pogba ended up moving back to Manchester United for a world record fee of £89m plus add-ons, having left Old Trafford four years earlier, but Barca'sdirector of sporting relations Albert Soler has said that things could have been very different.
Barcelona passed up deal to sign Manchester United's Paul Pogba: https://t.co/vXIoEs6pDb #MUFC #FCBarcelona pic.twitter.com/f9uXX0NmHg
In quotes onSky Sports News, he said: "Last year we reached a deal with Juventus for us to have a priority option when they sold Pogba.This summer we decided that there were players that suited us better on a sporting level.The idea of the board was that nobody would be able to get ahead of us in the market.It allowed us to have options."
The reigning Spanish champions decided instead to make a number of lower profile acquisitions, bringingDenis Suarez back to the club after triggering a clause in his Villarreal contract before addingAndre Gomes for a fee in the region of £40m.
Italy x France tonight @equipedefrance #fiersdetrebleus #hojetemjogo pic.twitter.com/Fo6PE3zURr
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi made the best of the international break this week by scoring Argentina's only goal on his return to the international fold, demonstrating his signature exceptional close control before firing home a low shot from the edge of the area.
He admitted after the gamethat he was 'grateful' for the chance to return to the Argentina fold, but admitted that a groin injury could rule him out of Tuesday's game against Venezuela.
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