FC Barcelona has responded to another offer from Premier League giant Chelsea for one of its star players in Fermin Lopez according to Mundo Deportivo, which cited anonymous sources.

Fermin is an example to any budding professional for his work ethic and humble attitude. Often struggling in La Masia because of his inferior height and weight compared to others in academy football, he happily went out on loan to Linares while on the fringes of the Barca reserve team.

Playing at a lower level ended up being a revelation for the Andalusian, who impressed then-head coach Xavi Hernandez in preseason upon his return to Catalonia and was taken on a preseason tour of the United States.

Scoring a screamer in a friendly against Real Madrid, Fermin hasn’t looked back since and continued to blossom under Xavi’s successor Flick with protagonist performances against Bayern Munich in the Champions League among others.

Becoming a domestic treble winner in Spain to compliment his Euro 2024 and Olympic gold medals for La Roja, Fermin is understandably the subject of interest from further afield.

The fact that Dani Olmo pretty much has the CAM spot locked down under Flick as Fermin and Gavi battle for the rest of the minutes might make those from outside the club think they can tempt Barca into a sale, and it was reported this week by El Chiringuito that Premier League giant Chelsea has offered $80 million (€70 million) to try and make Fermin club teammates with his international comrade, and fellow former La Masia alumnus, Marc Cucurella at Stamford Bridge.

That bid was turned down, and Mundo Deportivo also details how anonymous sources close to the negotiations explained that Chelsea has offered a part exchange.

This would entail Lopez heading to the English capital and Christopher Nkunku travelling in the opposite direction to its Catalan counterpart.

Yet Barca has also reportedly knocked back that suggestion too, as the top priority of Sporting Director Deco and President Joan Laporta attacking-wise is to try and land Liverpool’s Luis Diaz.

FC Barcelona should not let Fermin go for two reasons. Firstly, we can’t forget how injury-prone Olmo is, while there are also few players that come racing out of the traps with such intensity while boasting a goalscoring threat to match for Flick.