Chelsea and Everton made a late attempt to sign Barcelona’s defensive midfielder Marc Bernal in the recently concluded summer transfer window, according to Mundo Deportivo.
Bernal has been one of LaLiga’s brightest young talents since coming through the ranks at Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy. The 18-year-old broke into the first team at the start of the 2024/25 campaign, but his progress was halted by a serious knee injury that cut his season short.
So far, he has featured three times for the Catalan giants, and once fit again, he will be aiming to establish himself as a regular in Hansi Flick’s side. However, the prospect of becoming a regular starter in a stacked midfield that consists of the likes of Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi and Marc Casadó would be a daunting task, so it won’t be surprising if he receives offers from other clubs.
Offers for the youngster indeed came in the summer, as Mundo Deportivo claims that Premier League sides Chelsea and Everton made a late attempt to sign the Spain U17 international.
The report adds that other clubs, including Como, AS Roma, Brighton, Valencia, Girona, and Real Betis, were also vying for the midfielder’s signature, but a move did not materialise, as the youngster eventually remained with the LaLiga champions.
Late swoop
Amid interest from Chelsea and Everton, it is unclear if the English duo offered a permanent deal to sign Bernal on deadline day, as the Spanish outlet claims that several clubs offered the Spaniard a six-month loan deal with the possibility of returning to Catalonia in January.
For Chelsea, although Andrey Santos has impressed since returning from his loan spell at RC Strasbourg, Enzo Maresca could still benefit from an extra option to complement Santos, Enzo Fernández, and Moisés Caicedo amid the fixture congestion and incessant injury concerns for Romeo Lavia.
Everton, meanwhile, were also in need of midfield reinforcements after Abdoulaye Doucouré departed as a free agent. James Garner and Idrissa Gueye have both been excellent under David Moyes, but with the latter approaching the latter stages of his career, the Merseyside club were keen on a younger holding midfielder — making Bernal an attractive option during the summer window.
Both clubs will need to submit offers well above his £4m Transfermarkt valuation to poach him from Barcelona, who would be keen on retaining their prized asset.