Joan Laporta on Barcelona pursuit of Nico Williams and Luis Diaz

Barcelona have had a chaotic summer so far, although some of that was put to rest earlier this week when Marcus Rashford joined on a season-long loan from Manchester United. He arrives as the club’s new left winger signing, winning the race ahead of previous targets Nico Williams and Luis Diaz.

At one stage, Rashford had been third favourite behind the aforementioned duo to sign for Barcelona, and as per MD, president Joan Laporta has given an insight into how things played out in regards to this matter.

“It has been a more complicated terrain than the goalkeeper because of the opinions that came from all sides. There were several options and I’m very happy because we ended up getting the option that I liked the most.

“It’s true that I also liked Luis Díaz, a very complete player, but due to his circumstances, with a Liverpool very entrenched it was complicated although I thank the player who wanted to come at all times. Nico Williams also happened. And in view of the fact that Luis was complicated and that we were in the process of negotiating with Rashford, Nico’s agent came offering the possibility of signing him. Deco told me, in principle I preferred to work on the other two options, but in these cases I always listen to the sporting management. He said that at least we should listen because he is an interesting player because he holds his own.

“There were negotiations, but from what they told us to what it was in the end, there was a lot of difference in the direction of the payment terms, in the agent’s commission and a series of variables that already had signs that the operation would not take place. Deco set a deadline of 48 hours and if they did not accept our conditions, we were not going to do that operation. In the end it was not done. At the same time, work was done with the other two and Rashford’s was clarified.”

Laporta’s focus will now be on sales

Now that Barcelona have their two signings in Joan Garcia and Rashford, the focus will be on players sales, which are needed to ensure that both players can be registered with La Liga for the 2025-26 season.