Sao Paolo’s Rodrigo Caio was on the verge of joining Barcelona according to Sport.
Barca’s need for an additional player at the heart of defence was well-documented. As Samuel Umtiti and Thomas Vermaelen became unavailable due to injuries, Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet were left as the only pair at manager Ernesto Valverde’s diposal. They were linked with former Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanović, while Andreas Christensen was named as their preferred option.
Apparently, Caio was Barca’s contingency plan. As Chelsea stood firm about not letting Christensen leave, the deal between the Catalans and Sao Paolo had been agreed – Barca would take the centre-back on a six-month loan, with an obligation to buy him after that for a sum in the range between €15million and €18million.
The player had already traveled to Spain and even passed his medical ahead of the move, when the La Liga champions suddenly pulled out of the deal as Valverde chose Valencia’s Jeison Murillo.
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