PSG set to complete stunning capture of Barcelona gem Dro Fernandez as Blaugrana chief admits 'surprise' at transfer decision

The relationship between Barcelona and PSG has been frosty for years, and the temperature is set to drop further with the imminent departure of highly-rated attacking midfielder Dro Fernandez. According to Fabrizio Romano, the deal is effectively done, with the youngster in Paris today to complete his medical examinations ahead of an €8m (£6.7m) switch.

However, the transfer has left a bitter taste in the mouth of Barcelona president Laporta. Speaking to Catalunya Radio as the news broke, Laporta did not hide his disappointment, revealing that the club believed they had a concrete plan in place to secure Fernandez’s long-term future at Camp Nou once he reached maturity.

“We will speak when everything is closed,” Laporta said. “It has been an unpleasant situation. We could have redirected this situation as it had been proposed, but it has been a surprise because we had agreed on a new solution with Dro when he turned 18. Surprisingly, his agent told us that he would not be able to fulfil what was agreed.”

The sense of loss at Barcelona is compounded by the rapid progress Fernandez had made over the last six months. The midfielder had been fast-tracked into the first-team set-up, signalling the club's intent to make him a cornerstone of their future project.

Fernandez was included in the senior squad for Barcelona's pre-season tour of South Korea, a significant milestone that allowed him to train alongside the club’s elite stars. He did not have to wait long for his competitive breakthrough, making his La Liga debut in September during a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad.

His trajectory continued to soar in October when he was handed his Champions League debut. Fernandez seized the opportunity, contributing an assist in a 6-1 demolition of Olympiakos. To date, he has made five senior appearances for the Blaugrana, four of which came in La Liga. For a player to have impacted the first team so quickly, only to leave midway through his breakthrough season, represents a significant failure of retention for the Catalan club.

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For Barcelona supporters, this narrative is painfully familiar. PSG have a history of targeting Barcelona’s youth ranks, similarly poaching Xavi Simons from the youth academy in 2019, as well as the world-record seizure of Neymar which fundamentally altered the transfer market.

The €8m fee represents a significant outlay for a player with only a handful of senior appearances, highlighting how highly rated Fernandez is by the recruitment team at the Parc des Princes. For PSG, securing a talent who has already tasted Champions League football and held his own in La Liga is a major coup, fitting their recent strategy of recruiting elite young talent rather than just established superstars.

Conversely, for Barcelona, the fee offers little consolation. While the club’s financial difficulties are well-documented, losing a homegrown talent who was already contributing to the first team for a relatively modest sum is a sporting blow that money cannot immediately fix.

"As a coach, what we do is give confidence to the players," Hansi Flick said when reports of a possible move first emerged last week. "You try to believe in them so that they grow. I also know that there are people around him. I want to wait for this to be a thing of the past. If he decides to change clubs, then we will deal with it. Now is not the time."

With the medical taking place today, an official announcement is expected imminently. Fernandez will swap the sunny climes of Catalonia for the French capital, where he will look to establish himself in Luis Enrique’s squad.

The immediate challenge for Fernandez will be adapting to a new league and a new language, but his performances in the autumn suggest he possesses the temperament to handle the pressure. Meanwhile, Barcelona must now conduct an internal inquest into how "what was agreed" was allowed to collapse, leaving them powerless to stop another academy star from walking out the door.