The day Barcelona effectively chose Douglas over Asensio
Life is full of successes and failures. And at FC Barcelona in terms of transfers, failures have been troubling. And the Marco Asensio case is a good example of that.
The Mallorca player was extremely close to signing for Barcelona, in the summer of 2014. The agreement between the clubs, Barca and Mallorca, was total. And the player loved the idea of signing for Barcelona, so much so that he went to the city to look for a house in Castelldefels. Asensio was tipped to be a star two years ago, and many teams were behind Barcelona in the hunt for his signature.
Although the versions of the two clubs differ, it was clear that Barcelona were able to pay 4.5million to Mallorca. The problem was that the Catalans wanted to split this up into variables, whereas Mallorca wanted all the money in one go. Neither Andoni Zubizarreta or Antoni Rossich wanted to let their arm be twisted. So the negotiations broke up.
Rossich had a plan B. Although he didn't want to pay 4.5m for Asensio, he didn't mind spending 5.5m on Douglas. 4m fixed and 1.5m in variables. And we can see the results.
In the last two years, Douglas has been confirmed as one of the most lamentable signings in Barcelona history. Meanwhile, Asensio, 20, has just made his Madrid debut and scored a golazo against Sevilla to help them win the UEFA Super Cup.
