Barcelona Decided Against Signing Morata To Not Upset The Dressing Room – Jordi Mestre

Ex Barcelona vice-president, Jordi Mestre has come out to say that the club has tried to sign both Thibaut Courtois and Alvaro Morata in recent years.

Jordi recently talked about the pursuits of both players by the club, with ex-director of football, Andoni Zubizarreta, pointing Barca in the direction of Courtois in 2013.

According to him, there were repeated discussions on signing Courtois, but the club finally decided on Marc-Andre ter Stegen as advised by Zubizarreta.

On Morata, Jordi said the board decided against the move because it could’ve caused conflict in the dressing since Alvaro would’ve loved to play and not be a sub.

His words, “There was insistent talk of signing Courtois, but they finally brought in [Marc-Andre] ter Stegen at the discretion of Zubizarreta,”

“Following the opinion of the players, bringing Morata would have created a possible conflict in the locker room. He would have liked to play and not be a substitute.

“There were two issues with Morata – one concerned controlling the club’s budget which Pep Segura was in charge of and he was always extremely careful about not going over budget.

“Then there was the sporting side – Morata was an international and, therefore, not the kind of player who should be sat on the bench in every game.

“He didn’t want to be a substitute and the atmosphere within the squad was very good – if he had joined, it would have unsettled that but, as I say, it’s not the players who make those decisions.”

On his exit, “I felt I’d been fighting an uphill battle for some time,”

“I had different ideas about things to other board members but it wasn’t important. I realised that I was the only one who thought in a certain way.

“The football committee which comprised Josep Maria Bartomeu, Javier Bordas, Silvio Elias, and Xavier Vilajoana were not in agreement with me or with Pep Segura in his role as general manager. I was the only one who defended him and I felt alone.”