€30m Dutch player’s father reveals why he advised his son to reject Barcelona | OneFootball

The departure of Sergio Busquets in 2023 was a significant event in the history of FC Barcelona, as the club is still feeling the effects of his exit.

The Blaugranes brought in Oriol Romeu in 2023 to replace the legendary midfielder, but the former Southampton player had a rather inconsistent time at Barcelona.

He left the club to rejoin Girona in the last summer transfer window, and Flick has had to rely mainly on youngsters like Marc Bernal and Marc Casado for this position.

For the last two years, the Catalans have been trying to find a worthy replacement for Sergio Busquets in the market, and have been linked with players like Joshua Kimmich and Mikel Merino for this purpose.

But as Mundo Deportivo has reported, Martin Reijnders, the father of €30m-rated Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, revealed in a Dutch newspaper interview that FC Barcelona expressed interest in his son back in 2023.

Reijnders claimed that he was in contact with Deco for this operation – even though the Portuguese was officially presented as the club’s Sporting Director only in September 2023 – and talked about why he advised his son to reject the Catalans:

“I only had direct contact with Barcelona, speaking with the technical director, Deco. I even checked his profile picture to make sure it was really him. It’s clear that we felt flattered by Barcelona’s interest.”

However, they were looking for a replacement for Busquets, and I told my son that he doesn’t have that profile. He’s not the kind of player with the characteristics they were looking for. I advised my son to turn down Barcelona. There, he would have been a substitute and ran the risk of failing, as has happened to many others.”

That same summer, Tijjani ended up signing for AC Milan for €20 million, where he has ended up being quite successful. Last season, he had 50 appearances with the Rosoneri, in which he scored four goals and provided four assists. This season, he already has nine appearances, and has provided two assists up to now.