The brother of Morocco international Sofyan Amrabat reveals Fiorentina ‘turned down Manchester United, Barcelona and Chelsea offers’ in January.
The midfielder became a sensation at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, his team reaching the semi-finals and eventually securing fourth place in the tournament.
He shot to fame and his name was on the lips of all the top clubs with regards to a potential transfer, but until now the details of who came in for him weren’t entirely clear.
“President Rocco Commisso said during the World Cup that he would not sell Sofyan, but I thought he was just trying to bump up the price tag,” confessed Nordin Amrabat to Voetbal Primeur.
“There was a lot of interest in Sofyan and he only wanted to leave Florence for a top level team. We received many proposals from England and those clubs were prepared to pay substantial transfer fees too.”
However, when it comes to genuinely advanced negotiations, and clubs that Amrabat might’ve been prepared to join, the list is narrowed down to three.
“Manchester United arrived in the last two days, but with an offer that was a loan with option to buy, which Fiorentina did not want to deal with. Barcelona had financial problems and therefore couldn’t afford to make it an obligation to buy either.
“The third club was Chelsea,” explains Amrabat’s brother Nordin.
“Barcelona were prepared to pay a great deal and Sofyan really hoped that deal would go through, but Fiorentina said absolutely not. He is one of their most important players, they weren’t going to let him go then. We can talk about a transfer again in the summer.”
It had been widely reported in January that Amrabat was so determined to join Barcelona that he dropped out of training and tried to force the issue, leading to him being dropped for several matches.
He later apologised to his teammates, coach Vincenzo Italiano and the club, so was welcomed back with open arms.