Marco Verratti wanted to join Barcelona in 2017, according to his former agent, who says the Paris Saint-Germain star was eager to link up with Lionel Messi at Camp Nou.
Verratti has spent the last nine years of his career at Parc de Princes, having been snapped up from Pescara by PSG as a teenager in 2012.
The Italy international has since helped the French champions establish themselves as the most dominant team in Ligue 1, but his former representative Donato Di Campli claims his head was turned by interest from Barca at one stage.