Sofyan Amrabat's brother names 3 clubs who failed with January bids | OneFootball

The brother of Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat has revealed that three European giants failed with bids to sign the Morocco international in January.

Amrabat was one of many who excelled for Morocco during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as the Atlas Lions became the first African side to reach the semi-finals on the global stage, leading to significant interest in his services once the January transfer window opened.

However, all interest in the 26-year-old, whose contract expires in 2024, was rebuffed by Fiorentina.

Speaking to Voetbal Primeur, Amrabat's brother Nordin claimed that Manchester United, Barcelona and Chelsea all tried to sign the midfielder before the winter window came to a close.

“President Rocco Commisso said during the World Cup that he would not sell Sofyan, but I thought he was just trying to bump up the price tag," he began.

“There was a lot of interest in Sofyan and he only wanted to leave Florence for a top level team. We received many proposals from England and those clubs were prepared to pay substantial transfer fees too.”

He continued: “Manchester United arrived in the last two days, but with an offer that was a loan with option to buy, which Fiorentina did not want to deal with. Barcelona had financial problems and therefore couldn’t afford to make it an obligation to buy either. The third club was Chelsea.

“Barcelona were prepared to pay a great deal and Sofyan really hoped that deal would go through, but Fiorentina said absolutely not. He is one of their most important players, they weren’t going to let him go then. We can talk about a transfer again in the summer.”

90min reported during the transfer window that Fiorentina were adamant that Amrabat would not leave on a temporary deal without an obligation to buy - something Barcelona were unable to offer because of their financial sanctions.

The Blaugrana have been blocked from signing players by La Liga until they have dramatically slashed their team salary, leaving them plenty of work to do before a move for Amrabat can be considered again.