Reports: UEFA blocked Barcelona's move for former Real Madrid star

What’s the story?

Barcelona had a summer to forget as Neymar turned his back on the club and left. PSG's determination to keep Marco Verratti and Liverpool doing the same with Philippe Coutinho made things worse for them.

Things might have been slightly better if Valverde would have got Angel Di Maria but that wasn't the case. According to the Metro, the Catalan side had a deal to sign the Argentine on deadline day but that was blocked by UEFA as they were investigating Paris Saint-Germain for their transfer activities.

In case you didn’t know...

PSG signed Neymar for a world record fee of €222 million in the summer and then went on to sign Kylian Mbappe on a season-long loan with an option to buy next summer. Barcelona and La Liga officials expressed their shock at the Ligue 1 side spending so much in one summer and asked UEFA to check for the loophole used by the French side.

The heart of the matter

UEFA's investigation on PSG breaching Financial Fair Play rules had begun the day their transfer window closed. However, La Liga's transfer window was still open and thus Barcelona tried to sign Di Maria on the final day.

As the paper works were in possession of the UEFA officials for checking, they did not let the transfer take place. Reports suggest that Barca had agreed a fee with PSG for Di Maria and the player was also ready to move back to Spain.

Video

Author’s Take

Di Maria to Barcelona was a rumour that was going on for several weeks during the transfer window. Why Barcelona waited for so long before making a move is a mystery.

Did they really think they could sign Coutinho despite Liverpool standing firm? Or were they playing the waiting game to see if PSG would reduce their price for the Argentine?