There are many possible cases where FC Barcelona may have potentially lost out on a player. However, there are either those that seem to have been a luxury case or there are those that are of absolute necessity.
The latter consists of targets that hurt from an operational perspective, while the former are more of a hit-or-miss endeavor.
For Barcelona, losing out on a player like Neymar Jr to Al Hilal may have been a blow, but it is not one that has hindered them from a sporting perspective given that Joao Felix did end up arriving. On the other hand, the Catalan giants are currently severely short-handed in terms of their pivot position and news has now come out of them having missed out on a great opportunity.
According to the ever-reliable Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, FC Barcelona had attempted to hijack the deal for 22-year-old Sergi Altimira as he made the move to Spanish side Real Betis from another Spanish club, Getafe.
Reportedly, then Barcelona Director of Football Mateu Alemany had tried in August to trigger the €2 million release clause to bring Altimira to Barca. However, by then the deal was already quite advanced and Betis ended up taking advantage early to seal his arrival by paying his release clause.
Interestingly, this is not the first time Barcelona has tried to bring in Altimira. Formerly a player in La Masia, he was with La Blaugrana from 2012 to 2019, a span of seven years, after which he departed for CE Sabadell FC in the hopes of potentially getting more recognition and playing time.
Following a season away on loan from his club at EC Granollers, once he made his return to Sabadell he became a prominent player in the first team. So much so that Barca’s interest in the player was reignited.
As a result, the Catalan giants attempted to bring him back to the club in August of last year as well on the deadline day but were unable to and this resulted in him staying with Sabadell until 2023. After the conclusion of his contract, he then went on to join Getafe and has now joined Real Betis despite Barca’s attempts to hijack the deal in question.
