Barcelona no longer interested in La Liga midfielder for holding role | OneFootball

While it remained a hypothetical situation due to their finances, Barcelona would have been in the market for a midfielder this summer. Several options were suggested over recent months, but none came to fruition.

Their top choice was Amadou Onana before his move to Aston Villa, and they also tried a last-minute loan deal for Liverpool’s Stefan Bajcetic after Marc Bernal’s injury. The Blaugrana were also interested in Mikel Merino at one point too.

However there were a number of names suggested that were never realistic options. Matteo Moretto has revealed that neither of Chelsea’s Carney Chukwuemeka nor Valencia’s Pepelu were on the agenda at the Ciutat Esportiva this summer.

The latter was linked to Barcelona after Xavi Hernandez reportedly took a shine to him, but he was not considered for either the Catalan giants or Atletico Madrid to whom he was also rumoured to be on the radar of.

The 25-year-old has shown enormous growth, coming into Los Che for €5m two summers ago, and proving an essential player for Ruben Baraja. Pepelu has just earned his first call-up to the Spanish national side under Luis de la Fuente. If he keeps up his performances this season, it may not be long before major teams are on his tail.