Sergi Darder was one of the names Barcelona were considering signing in the summer, in their attempts to find a short-term replacement for Sergio Busquets.
Darder was plying his trade for Espanyol at the time and was coming on the back of a stellar campaign with the Catalan outfit, prompting Barcelona to go after him.
Despite interest from the Blaugrana, though, Darder did not join the club and ended up moving to RCD Mallorca.
Sergi Darder on Barcelona
As we approach the halfway point of the campaign, Darder has recently opened up on why he rejected a move to Barcelona in the summer.
The Spaniard implied that his Espanyol past made it very difficult for him to choose Barcelona. “I had the possibility of signing for Barcelona this summer and it’s hard to say no to a team like that,” he told Onda Cero (h/t Diario SPORT).
“But when I thought about it coldly my head wouldn’t allow it coming from Espanyol. There was not even 1 percent on my part of being able to go,” the midfielder added.
Darder even revealed that he had to speak to several figures within the Espanyol team to consult whether or not he should move to Barcelona.
“I spoke with people from Espanyol like Tommy, and my feeling for Espanyol was so great that I wouldn’t allow it,” he revealed.
Darder on his move to Mallorca
After much deliberation over a potential move to Barcelona, Darder refused the Catalan outfit and joined RCD Mallorca, in a move worth around €8 million.
“I had a very clear decision for my own psychological good,” he said when asked about his move to Mallorca.
Darder, though, is enduring a difficult time at Mallorca, who have emerged as one of the worst-performing teams in the league and are battling relegation.
Barcelona, meanwhile, decided to go after Oriol Romeu in the summer, after missing out on Sergi Darder. Notwithstanding the midfielder’s poor form lately, it was a low-cost gamble that has been paying off so far.
