Barcelona under fire from Spanish media after failing to land Coutinho or Di Maria

Sport360 staff 15:17 02/09/2017
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  • The Spanish media have laid into Barcelona after the club failed to sign either Philippe Coutinho and Angel Di Maria on Friday, the final day of the European transfer window.

    Mundo Deportivo claimed the day’s big scoop, reporting that negotiations with Liverpool broke down after the Premier League club demanded £146.5 million for Coutinho. Barcelona then turned to Angel Di Maria as a back-up option, but were unwilling to meet PSG’s £73 million asking price.

    Sport led with the headline “Not one, not two…ZERO TRANSFERS”, with a black background to symbolise the mood surrounding the club.

    The daily also raised questions about Barcelona’s decision to send Munir El Haddadi on a season-long loan to Alaves, without an option to make the transfer permanent.

    Barcelona looked thin on attacking options even before letting El Haddadi leave.

    Meanwhile, former Barcelona presidential candidate Agusti Benedito demanded current president Josep Maria Bartomeu’s resignation and a no-confidence vote in the club’s entire board, saying Barcelona is facing an “institutional crisis”.

    The club were under pressure to make a marquee signing before the window closed, with the arrival of Ousmane Dembele not enough to alleviate concerns that Neymar’s departure from Barcelona to PSG had left the club in turmoil.

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