Barcelona turned down chance to sign Liverpool forward, not an option for club

Barcelona were offered a chance to sign Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino, but the club turned down the opportunity, reports Luis F Rojo of MARCA.

Firmino is set to become a free agent at the end of the season, with his contract at Liverpool running down. While manager Jurgen Klopp wanted to keep hold of him, the player has decided to move on to a new challenge, having spent eight years at Anfield.

With Firmino’s imminent free agency and Barcelona’s pursuit of bargain signings, reports suggested that the 31-year-old was on the club’s radar for the summer. In fact, some outlets in England even suggested that an agreement was already in place.

However, those rumours were quashed by multiple reliable sources, including Fabrizio Romano, but the Italian transfer expert insisted that Firmino was an option on Barça’s radars.

But, now, Luis F Rojo of MARCA is stating that Barcelona have no interest in the 31-year-old attacker and have already turned down an opportunity to sign the Brazilian when he offered himself to the club a few months ago.

The report claims that while Firmino’s quality is evident, the former TSG Hoffenheim forward is not a profile that Barça are looking for in the summer.

Furthermore, the report goes on to add that Barcelona are not looking to sign a new centre-forward as a priority at all, despite the strong links to players like Vitor Roque and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Instead, their focus is on strengthening their options on the wings, with the return of loanee Ez Abde having been discussed amongst the club officials.

So, another source has dismissed the rumours of Firmino possibly signing for Barcelona in the summer, with the Brazilian not seen as an option by the La Liga leaders heading into the transfer window.