Barcelona rejected the chance to sign two soon-to-become free agents; focusing on younger players | OneFootball

The January transfer window saw Barcelona largely negotiate with their existing stars and secure their long-term future in Catalonia.

The club did not opt to invest in any big star, though it was largely due to an economic crunch and an inflated salary bill that kept putting pressure on Barça’s balance sheet.

Barcelona were offered van Dijk and Kimmich

According to Diario SPORT, Barcelona were not completely out of options as far as the new signings are concerned.

In fact, the club were offered the chance to sign both Joshua Kimmich and Virgil van Dijk and seriously reinforce the squad.

Both players had offered themselves to Barcelona as their contracts at Bayern Munich and Liverpool, respectively, expire at the end of the season.

Barcelona rejected the chance to sign Van Dijk (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Why did Barcelona reject the opportunity?

The report, though, confirms that Barcelona sporting director Deco rejected the opportunity to sign van Dijk and Kimmich.

This decision came on the back of Deco’s desire to invest more in younger players and are not keen on signing older players anymore, even if they get them at a cheaper price.

Although Barcelona do still rate Kimmich very highly, it appears the German international doesn’t exactly fit the profit the club are looking for.

If Barcelona are to sign a midfielder, they are focusing on more of a defensive pivot position.

As for Van Dijk, it must be noted that Barcelona already have a stacked defensive unit, which will also expand once Jonathan Tah joins the club on a free transfer.

Given that Tah is already joining on a free deal, it wouldn’t have made much sense to sign van Dijk next summer.