Manchester United and Chelsea exit routes open for Barcelona man

Barcelona have managed to make more than €31m from the sales of Pau Victor, Alex Valle and Pablo Torre this summer, including the various sell-on clauses that have come into play for others too. It puts them at a net profit of €6m for their summer business. However still dogged by their registration issues, not a week goes past without reports of potential squad players being sold in the Catalan capital.

One of the usual suspects is Fermin Lopez, whose name has appeared alongside the likes of Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen as sales they could very much come to terms with. According to Caught Offside, part of the reason for that is that the Barcelona board are split on Lopez. Some are keen to keep him, others feel that it is a good time to cash on the 22-year-old with big offers likely to come in for him.

Lopez has already turned down offers from Arsenal and Saudi Arabia in the recent months, while the same outlet explain that Chelsea and Manchester United remain interested in a move for him. In the case of the London side, they would be willing to put €60m on the table for the Spain international.

For them to make a move though, they would likely need some encouragement from Lopez. Thus far, Fermin has been adamant about his desire to continue and succeed at Barcelona. It no doubt helps that manager Hansi Flick is very much happy to have him, and values his contributions.

Fermin Lopez will once again be competing for spots in the packed out attacking midfield area for Barcelona. Dani Olmo was the de facto starter last season, and will likely start as the number 10 again. With Marcus Rashford an option on the left, Raphinha could also get more minutes in the middle of the pitch, while Pedri and Gavi can also play there. Fermin has made his case for more game time though, producing more often than Olmo or Gavi there last season.