Report – The reason Barcelona missed out on signing former academy star

Report – The reason Barcelona missed out on signing former academy star Jan Virigili’s move to Club Brugge was one of the more surprising moves of the summer transfer window, for the player has been one of the most highly rated young wingers in Spain and he opted to leave Europe’s top five leagues. Playing for Mallorca last season, Virgili suffered heartbreak when his side was relegated and was desperately looking for a means to leave his side and return to elite football this summer. Barcelona, for their part, rated the player highly and were even rumoured to be interested in signing him back. In the end, however, it slipped away from them and Club Brugge snatched his signature. The real story As revealed in a recent update on SPORT , the story of Virgili’s transfer has far more to it than meets the eye. Virgili has made a strong start to life at Club Brugge. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images) The Spanish outlet confirm that Barcelona were looking to sign the player back this summer and that Deco even had a long meeting with the winger’s agents early in June. In that session, he informed them that Barcelona would pay out €7 million and sign him back permanently once Hansi Flick gave the green light. Virgili, for his part, was also open to returning to Barcelona and had it as his top option. The idea of fighting for a place under Flick really appealed to the player. What went wrong? Over the next few weeks, Barcelona’s idea of signing the player slowly diminished and a new idea came to the fore – to sign him back and loan him out for a season. Real Betis were interested in such a collaboration. Deco wanted to bring the player back. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images) Los Verdiblancos’ place in the UEFA Champions League was another factor that encouraged Virgili to take the new route, but it was never made active. Betis refused to pay the wage share that Barcelona asked, and Deco placed the move on standby. Days turned into weeks, and Barcelona stayed silent with no updates. Seeing the player’s complicated situation, Club Brugge entered the scene and paid out his €12 million release clause. Two factors played a role in enabling that deal – their place in the UCL and their willingness to pay the full release clause. After all, paying out his release clause was Virgili’s only and best hope of leaving Mallorca.