Real Madrid winger Marcos Asensio came close to joining Barcelona two years ago, according to Sport.
The report claims Barca had an agreement with the player’s club Real Mallorca and Asensio loved the idea so much he went to the Catalan capital in search of a house in the Castelldefels area.
Asensio was a much sought-after commodity at the time and Barcelona were willing to pay Mallorca €4.5m to secure his signature.
However, La Blaugrana wanted the fee split into variables, whereas Mallorca wanted the money in a lump sum, something then director of football Andoni Zubizarreta and general director Antoni Rossich did not want, so negotiations broke down.
Barca then decided to spend the money on Douglas, who cost €5.5m with €4m fixed and €1.5m in variables.
In the meantime, Asensio has made his Madrid and Spain debuts after going out on loan to Espanyol last season, and scored a stunning goal in Tuesday’s European Super Cup win over Sevilla to help Los Blancos lift the trophy.
