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Jean-Clair Todibo and Rafinha left Barcelona on Monday but the club failed to bring in any deadline day signings of their own as they came up short in their attempts to sign Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay.
Todibo, 20, joined Benfica on a two-year loan deal worth €2 million. The Portuguese club also have an option to sign the defender for €20m in the future.
Rafinha, 27, has moved to French champions Paris Saint-Germain on a three-year deal. Barca didn’t reveal any figures but sources told ESPN they could make up to €3m in performance-related add-ons from the transfer and will also receive 35 percent of any future sale.
Young defender Juan Miranda also left Camp Nou on on the last day of transfers, joining Real Betis on a season-long loan, but there was no exit for Ousmane Dembele, despite interest from Manchester United.
Coach Ronald Koeman made it clear over the weekend he wanted a centre-back and a striker added to his squad and Barca began Monday hopeful of at least signing one of Garcia or Depay.
Barcelona needed to sell before they could buy and Todibo’s move to Portugal, in theory, freed up room on the wage bill for Garcia to arrive from Manchester City.
However, following discussions throughout the day, City and Barca failed to reach an agreement as Garcia, 19, awaited developments from Madrid, where he’s currently based with the Spanish national team.
Sources have told ESPN that Barca believed City would reduce their asking price for Garcia given his contract expires next summer, but a middle ground was never reached. The Blaugrana can sign him for free at the end of the season, but for now he remains at the Premier League side.
Elsewhere, despite personal terms being agreed with Lyon striker Depay, 26, sources always told ESPN the signing would be impossible if Dembele didn’t move to United.
Barca and United did hold talks over the French forward but wanted very different deals. Barca wanted a permanent move while United only wanted to take Dembele, whose three years at Camp Nou have been plagued by injuries, on loan.
Dembele, 23, also had doubts about joining United on a temporary deal and would have preferred a permanent solution to his future.
Depay, like Garcia, is also out of contract next summer but it remains to be seen if Barca will move for him again, even though Koeman made it clear the Dutch international was the attacker he wanted to complement his attack.
Sergino Dest, therefore, was Barca’s final signing of the window. The United States international became the club’s fourth signing of the summer when he joined from Ajax for €21m last week. Miralem Pjanic, Francisco Trincao and Pedri have also signed.
Meanwhile, Barca have also managed to move on several bigger earners as they try to reduce their wage bill and rejuvenate the squad. Along with Todibo, Rafinha and Miranda, Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic, Arturo Vidal, Arthur Melo and Nelson Semedo were among the players to leave in the window.