According to Spanish media reports, the recent progress of Barcelona midfielder Pau Bernal has been obvious to all, and Galatasaray attempted to sign him before the closure of the winter transfer window.
Bernal has been mired in various loan rumours since mid-January, but the player has always stated his intention to stay at Barcelona.
Teams including Ajax and Girona wanted to loan Bernal in the winter window, but all their proposals were ultimately rejected. Everything was going as planned until Galatasaray came calling again – and this was not the first time.
Barcelona and Galatasaray have maintained frequent contact in the past few weeks; initially, Marc-André ter Stegen was the name on the table, followed by Bernal.
The Galatasaray club president personally approved the start of negotiations for Bernal, and even the possibility of a permanent transfer was not ruled out. Turkish sources revealed that the offer reached as high as 30 million euros, and the club also presented the player with a contract whose salary could be up to three times his current annual salary.
However, this super offer from Turkey did not proceed further in the end, and the deal fell through.
