Where did this come from? Malcom was linked with many teams, but Barcelona was not one of them.
Monday: Malcom to Roma deal done
On Monday, Roma and Bordeaux confirmed an agreement had been reached for a transfer which would send Malcom to Italy for a fee in the region of €32 million. Roma had the funds to make the move after Alisson’s record sale to Liverpool. The Brazilian winger was seen as a potential replacement for Mohamed Salah. He was supposed to arrive in Rome for his medical at 23:00. Roma sporting director Monchi was ready for his arrival.
“Everything was done, so we were calm and confident.”
Then, out of nowhere, Barcelona swooped in at the last minute and hijacked the move by making a higher offer somewhere in the €40 million range. Malcom’s agent Fernando Garcia met with Barcelona representatives to sort out the details of a quickly drawn up contract ahead of Tuesday’s announcement.
“…I was very surprised when one of the representatives of the player called me to tell me that Bordeaux had withdrawn permission for the player to travel to Rome,”
“I called [Bordeaux president Stephane] Martin, and he told me that an offer had come in from Barcelona that was better than ours and that if we did not raise our offer we could not have the player.”
According to Monchi, Roma did submit a higher offer but refused to enter into a bidding war once the club was asked to increase it further.
Tuesday: Malcom set for Barcelona medical
Malcom is now set to undergo a medical ahead of his presentation in front of the Barcelona crowd today and then fly to the United States to join his new teammates.
Barca will play Tottenham in Los Angeles on Saturday. Malcom could make his debut then, although chances are he does so next week against no other than Roma, as the two teams are scheduled to meet in Dallas next Wednesday.
Monchi, who turned down the chance to run transfer operations at the Camp Nou a few times in the past, was robbed and he’s considering legal actions.
“We’re weighing up things up at the club, to see if we can take any legal action. Although we don’t have any signed documents, I have lots of messages from [Malcom’s] agent and [Bordeaux’s] president. That’s something worth considering.”
Who is Malcom?
Malcom arrived at Bordeaux from Corinthians in 2016, a club with which he won the Brazilian title. He then made 96 appearances in three seasons with Bordeaux, scoring 23 goals and becoming one of the best players in the French first division.
