EXCLUSIVE: How Barcelona managed Malcom's signing
They had a meeting two weeks ago in the Hotel Arts in Barcelona to get things going
Malcom's signing for Barcelona was not a quick and easy 'express' job like some say. The Brazilian joined the club on July 24 but the story started two weeks earlier at the Hotel Arts in Barcelona where the club met the player's representatives.
When the meeting was organised, Pep Segura's team had other players as higher priority, including Willian of Chelsea. The dinner was caused by Minguella Jr, son of Josep Maria Minguella, who was the bridge between the player and the club. Mingella Jr advised Barca that Monchi wanted the player and if they didn't move quickly they would lose him. In the meeting they expressed interest but little else.
Days passed, and Barca's signing of Willian went cold. But it was not until the afternoon on Monday that everything accelerated. Two factors. One was Monchi trying to speed things up with a verbal agreement with Bordeaux, the other was Chelsea asking for 75m for Willian, too high - Barca would pay 50 at most.
It was then that Barca returned to Malcom, bettering Roma's offer and convincing the player through Minguella Jr.
