Penarol vice-president Rodolfo Catino admits Barcelona had the chance to beat Real Madrid to Fede Valverde’s signing.
The Uruguay international signed a new deal to 2025 this week after a successful season so far with Real.
And Catino revealed Barca, along with Arsenal and Manchester United, all expressed interest in Valverde before Real made their approach.
He told AS: “Arsenal (were the first). He was invited to visit the facilities when he was 16 years old. We accepted, although we told him that he was not going to play because we were afraid of injury. But Arsenal insisted that he should play and we agreed to insurance of €6m in case of injury. A few months later they traveled to Montevideo to sign him, but their offer was very low and we did not reach an agreement.
“Also there was United and Barça. United withdrew quickly and Barcelona did not want to pay the price we asked for him, they did not approach that figure. They lost a great player for not making that economic effort.”
He added: “Madrid bet a lot on Fede because Juni Calafat had seen something special. They paid the €5m and the other variables that cannot be counted. It has been shown that they were right in their decision.”
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