Barcelona transfer news: Former Liverpool star turned down move to Camp Nou in January

What's the rumour?

Former Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel reportedly turned down a move to join Barcelona during the January transfer window.

In case you didn't know...

Skrtel joined Liverpool from Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg in 2008 and played 248 league games during his eight-year spell at Anfield.

He was the recipient of Liverpool's Player of the Season accolade in 2012 and also won the League Cup with the Reds in 2011/12.

The Slovakian left the Merseysiders to join Turkish club, Fenerbahçe S.K. in 2016 and is currently playing for them.

The heart of the matter

According to one of the partners in the company that represents Martin Skrtel, Barcelona tried to sign the centre-half in the recently concluded January transfer window.

He said: "Barcelona wanted to sign him [Škrtel] and were insisting on him because they needed a central defender that was a reliable alternative, but the player didn't agree because he did not want to be a substitute for Pique and Umtiti,"

He further added: "I think he is a better centre-half than Clément Lenglet. On the other hand, Martin Škrtel is happy in Istanbul and has an important role to play in Fenerbahçe. He did not want to be third choice at Barcelona.

"They [Barça reps] saw the player in the game between Slovakia and Ukraine and appreciated again that Škrtel is the leader of his team, but Škrtel told us he wants to continue playing in Turkey."

What's next?

Barcelona are currently at the top of LaLiga and will play Valladolid next before squaring off against Olympique Lyonnais at the Lyon Olympic Stadium in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie on February 20.

On the other hand, Fenerbahce are struggling in the league at the moment and are currently 14th in the table.