Barcelona turned down Dybala in favour of Coutinho pursuit

Barcelona twice turned down the opportunity to sign Paulo Dybala even though Juventus were willing to do business for a stunning €120m (£110m) deal, claims Spanish broadcaster La Sexta, via AS.

Ernesto Valverde’s side instead opted to use the money left from Neymar’s £193m sale to pursue Liverpool creator Philippe Coutinho but failed to prise the Brazilian away from Anfield.

Liverpool rejected multiple bids in excess if £100m from their European counterparts and it has now emerged Barcelona had the opportunity to sign Dybala earlier last month.

Dybala’s brother and representative reportedly met with a Barcelona chief midway through August, with a Juventus executive also involved in discussions, during which it became clear the Argentina international was interested in a potential move.

However, Barcelona opted against pursuing a deal as they did not believe Dybala would be compatible with Lionel Messi, despite the fact the Juventus No.10 is widely regarded as Messi’s heir for Argentina.

The 23-year-old has made a tremendous start to the season and is currently the highest rated player in Serie A (9.15) after earning the WhoScored Man of the Match award in both of Juventus’ opening matches.