Rangers were interested in signing midfielder Pablo Torre – but Xavi proved vital after Barcelona secured the teenager’s signature.
Torre, 18, had become a real talent with Spanish side Racing Santander, scoring seven goals and eight assists in 24 league appearances.
It may have come in the Spanish third tier, but Torre has sparked major interest thanks to his form from Santander.
Rangers showed genuine interest in signing Torre in December, with a deal of around £4m reportedly in the works.
However, January went by without Rangers signing Torre – and they have now missed out on the Spanish teenager.
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Earlier this month, Barcelona confirmed on their official website that Torre would arrive in a deal which could end up worth a whopping €20m (£17m).
The release clause in Torre’s contract is set at around €100m (£84m) with Barcelona clearly seeing a huge future for Torre.
It looks like Rangers have missed out on an exciting addition, and it looks like Barcelona boss Xavi played a key role in the move.
Athletic claim that Torre actually looked ready for Real Madrid before a personal intervention from Barca legend Xavi.
While Real would only give Torre an academy role as Xavi view Torre as becoming like Gavi and Pedri in Barcelona midfield.
Unsurprisingly, this tipped the race in favor of Barcelona, with Torre opting to move to Camp Nou.
Rangers may feel more than a little disgusted to have missed out on Torre, who will apparently be given the platform to become a star at Barcelona.
Rangers would hate to see Torre rise to the heights of players like Pedri who is currently one of the best midfielders in the world.
In truth though, with Xavi – a former team-mate of Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst – playing a key role, Rangers would likely have struggled to beat Barcelona anyway.
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