A Spanish report revealed intriguing details about English club Chelsea’s interest in signing Fermin Lopez from Barcelona during the recently closed summer transfer window, confirming the player’s stay at the Catalan club.

Spanish newspaper Marca confirmed there was genuine interest from the reigning FIFA Club World Cup champions to sign Lopez (22 years old), but Chelsea made only one offer, contrary to media rumors of multiple bids in recent days.

Deco, Barcelona’s sporting director, received an email from Chelsea over a month ago expressing the Blues’ interest in acquiring Fermin for 40 million euros, an offer the Portuguese described as “ridiculous.”

Since then, media buzz grew in both English and Spanish outlets, and the club’s interest put pressure on the player.

Marca noted that Fermin’s agents contacted Deco to inform him of Chelsea’s interest, but the sporting director was clear: the player must inform the club himself if he wants to leave, just as Iñigo Martinez did when he received an offer from Saudi club Al-Nassr.

While Fermin did not take this step, media outlets published higher figures for Chelsea’s offers reaching 50 and 60 million euros, numbers “apparently coming from the player’s circle,” considering the English club’s clear response that “these amounts are too high for this young player,” according to the newspaper.

Simultaneously, rumors circulated that Barcelona would demand 90 million euros for Fermin, but the truth is neither Deco nor anyone else in the management requested this amount, as there was no further communication between the clubs beyond the previously mentioned email.

The newspaper believes that despite Barcelona’s poor financial situation under Financial Fair Play rules, the club could have settled for less than 70 million euros, not 90 million.

Barcelona believes Fermin is a young player with a promising future who has won titles with the club and the Spanish national team, thus deserving more than 40 million euros compared to the amounts English clubs pay for other players.

The story ended with Fermin staying at Barcelona because “the player’s heart leaned towards staying,” and the newspaper confirmed that matters never reached a point where he was close to leaving the Blaugrana.

Since the start of the new 2025-2026 football season, Fermin has played two matches for Barcelona totaling only 73 minutes, including 45 minutes in the first La Liga match against Real Mallorca and 28 minutes against Rayo Vallecano in the third round, while missing the second round match against Levante.

During these minutes, the player neither scored nor assisted any goals, according to data from the well-known Transfermarkt website.