The powers that be at Barcelona have all but called time on their pursuit of Manchester City star Kalvin Phillips.
That’s according to Diario Sport, who have today provided an insight into some of the finer details of the situation.
It is of course common knowledge that the Barcelona brass are in collective agreement that Xavi’s squad could do with fresh blood in the middle of the park with a view to the 2nd half of the campaign.
This comes owing to all of Gavi’s long-term injury, Pedri’s struggles to stay fit, and the poor run of form being endured by summer signing Oriol Romeu.
Publicly available for loan through the summer, the aforementioned Kalvin Phillips, in turn, was identified by Deco and co. as one potential option for the January window.
In fact, the Blaugrana went as far as to make contact with the representatives of the former Leeds United standout.
In the end, however, a deal was deemed as being all but impossible to pull off.
This, unsurprisingly, comes largely as a result of the ongoing financial woes of those in Catalunya’s capital.
Under strict Financial Fair Play watch by UEFA and La Liga alike, Barcelona could not meet Manchester City’s demands that any club taking Phillips on loan contribute significantly to his wage packet.
With the Sky Blues also said to be seeking a loan sum, Joan Laporta and his team have in turn come to the decision to pull the plug on the operation entirely.
Conor Laird | GSFN
