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Cape Town - Barcelona director or sports relations Albert Soler claims the club had first option to sign Paul Pogba, but decided to pursue other transfer targets.
Pogba became the most expensive player in the world when he switch Juventus for Manchester United after the clubs agree a mammoth £93.25m deal.
The France international has made a bright start to life at Old Trafford, putting in a couple of good performances for the Red Devils early in the season, but United's supporters will undoubtedly be expecting fireworks for that kind of money.
However, it now appears the transfer was only allowed to happen after the Catalan giants declined to take up the first option deal they had arranged with Juventus in 2015.
"Last year we reached a deal with Juventus for us to have a priority option when they sold Pogba," he said.
"This summer we decided that there were players that suited us better on a sporting level. The idea of the board was that nobody would be able to get ahead of us in the market.
"It allowed us to have options."
Barcelona ended up adding both Denis Suarez and Andre Gomes to their midfield ranks for less than half of what United paid for Pogba.
Pogba became the most expensive player in the world when he switch Juventus for Manchester United after the clubs agree a mammoth £93.25m deal.
The France international has made a bright start to life at Old Trafford, putting in a couple of good performances for the Red Devils early in the season, but United's supporters will undoubtedly be expecting fireworks for that kind of money.
However, it now appears the transfer was only allowed to happen after the Catalan giants declined to take up the first option deal they had arranged with Juventus in 2015.
"Last year we reached a deal with Juventus for us to have a priority option when they sold Pogba," he said.
"This summer we decided that there were players that suited us better on a sporting level. The idea of the board was that nobody would be able to get ahead of us in the market.
"It allowed us to have options."
Barcelona ended up adding both Denis Suarez and Andre Gomes to their midfield ranks for less than half of what United paid for Pogba.
