Despite the lack of an official name, Bartomeu's comments have sparked fresh debate over which club possessed the financial muscle and intent to pull off such a heist. He was adamant that it was not the blue half of Manchester that was leading the charge at that particular moment, though many suspected the City Football Group were the only ones capable of such an outlay.
“There was a team willing to pay €400 million. I don’t want to name names, but it wasn’t City,” he clarified. This leaves Chelsea, PSG, or perhaps a club from the Middle East itself as potential candidates, though the former president remained tight-lipped on the final identity of the club that left Barca officials sweating over the future of their greatest ever player.