Barcelona have denied claims made by Serge Aurier that they turned down the chance to sign the defender in the summer.
Aurier joined Tottenham from Paris Saint-German in August, but the 24-year-old has revealed Barcelona would have signed him if not for his tarnished reputation.
“I think my reputation made four or five big European sides afraid,” he told Canal Plus. (Quotes via FourFourTwo.)
“I was negotiating with Barcelona, very advanced negotiations. And Barcelona’s people were not sure if I came here things would be different.
“It was the right choice [to leave PSG]. After a while, I did not feel comfortable with the media.
“For me, it was never going to end. After a while, I felt like a prisoner, with a camera on my back. By staying in France, I would have never washed this image.”
However, Barcelona have now dismissed the idea they were in negotiations with Aurier.
A club spokesman told Sport: “We never sat down with the player or his representative, they wanted to sit down with us but we never did anything.”
Aurier has made an inconsistent start to his Spurs career, but give it some time and I think Mauricio Pochettino will turn him into one of the Premier League’s best full-backs.
