Škrtel rejected Barca

Fenerbahce’s Martin Škrtel apparently rejected a move to Barcelona in January. That’s according to his agent, as relayed by AS.

The report quotes Mihat Halis, a partner in the agency which represents the 34-year-old Slovakian international, who says Barcelona tried to sign him in this year’s winter transfer window as an experienced, reliable alternative to Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti, but Škrtel did not want such a role.

Škrtel started his career at Slovakian side AS Trenčin in 2001, where he spent three years before moving to Zenit St Petersburg. In January 2008, he arrived to Anfield and played a total of 320 games in all competitions for Liverpool, scoring 18 goals. He gradually lost his place in the team under Jurgen Klopp and left for Fenerbahce in 2016.

Halis believes Škrtel is still a better centre-back than Clement Lenglet, Barcelona’s current third-choice option, but his role at Fenerbahce is more important than the one he’d be playing at Camp Nou, and he is obviously not yet ready to settle for being a backup option.