Fermín López
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – 01 07 2025: Fermin Lopez seen during Spanish Supercup Semifinal game between FC Barcelona and Athletic Club
Former Barcelona board member Joan Soler has now confirmed Chelsea made a concrete effort to sign Fermín López last summer.
He has been speaking to Cadena Ser on several topics including. Sport have relayed his comments on the Blues failure to sign the 22-year-old.
Chelsea showed serious interest in the Spain international towards the end of August 2025.
Chelsea’s attempt for Fermín
Sport Witness covered claims from the Catalan press of Chelsea making an offer for the attacking midfielder. The source reporte Club World Cup winners offering around €50m.
Last September, Sport Witness relayed news from Spain talking about a transfer fee of around €60-90m and the player keen on Stamford Bridge move. In the end, the Premier League side failed to take him away from Barcelona.
Despite these claims, Fermín said in September he “didn’t think about” joining Chelsea. He backed it up earlier this month, after he signed an extension until 2031 and it includes a €500m release clause.
Fermín’s decision to reject the west London club has clearly paid off. He is not only a regular under Hansi Flick but also impressed for Barcelona this season, scoring 11 goals and contributing 12 assists from 32 matches.
Why Chelsea failed to sign Barcelona star
Fermin Lopez
Fermin Lopez
Soler has been part of Joan Laporta’s board at Barca that stepped down recently ahead of the upcoming elections. He now explains the La Liga winners also didn’t consider selling Fermín to Chelsea last summer.
“There was a very important offer for Fermín from Chelsea this summer, but the player didn’t want to leave, and we didn’t want to sell,” he said.
The Spaniard graduated from the Catalan club’s academy and made his way to the first team in 2023. Soler has used him as an example to explain the importance of retaining homegrown players.
“Barca shouldn’t be a selling club, and we have to retain our homegrown players. We also had a €250m offer to sell Lamine [Yamal] in recent years. It came through agents, and that deal also fell through,” Soler explained.