Barcelona needed to strengthen their midfield in January. Their club president said so himself, telling journalists how Barca could exploit a possible loan deal for a new midfielder.
But that is highly unlikely to happen with Barca still fighting with one hand tied behind their backs by Financial Fair Play regulations. According to Fabrizio Romano, Barca have lost out on two midfield targets they carefully analyzed for January.
One of those midfielders is the highly talented Belgian star Arthur Vermeeren. Romano has given his trademark 'Here We Go' claiming the 18-year-old has reached an agreement to sign for Atletico Madrid.
Romano reveals how Atletico offered an initial €15m package to land the talented midfielder. The total package could reach €25m. Barca simply couldn't make such an offer to Royal Antwerp.
Meanwhile, Barca have also missed out on Manchester City's combative midfielder Kalvin Phillips.
Phillips will join West Ham on loan after an agreement was reached with Man City. Barca were probably beaten off because West Ham offered to sign the player permanently at the end of the season.
Barca reportedly hoping to sign Phillips on a six-month loan with no buy option and no loan fee. The Blaugrana simply wanted to cover his salary like they're doing with Felix and Cancelo.
