Barcelona made a surprising move in January by bringing in Kevin-Prince Boateng to bolster their attacking options. It turns out, however, that they were also on the verge of turning to MLS for help.
LAFC’s forward Carlos Vela revealed in a recent interview with BS The Podcast that Barca was interested in bringing him in early in the year, and that he accepted the move. According to Vela, the proposed move would see him play four months in La Liga, and then he would return to the United States.
“I was really close [to joining Barca],” said Vela. “In the second month of my holiday, I had a pina colada in hand and my agent called me to say: ‘Listen, Barcelona are calling you. They want you to play for four months and then you can go back to Los Angeles.’ I said to him: ‘Just say yes, I don’t care about money or anything. I’m going to start training tomorrow. Give me two weeks to get my fitness up.'”
Despite Vela agreeing to the move, Barca backed out at the last moment and signed Boateng instead. This turned out to be a mistake, as the 32-year-old Ghana forward made only four appearances in Spain and failed to make any contribution.
Vela, on the other hand, is enjoying a superb form this season, having scored 19 goals in 19 MLS games.
