Lucas Digne turned down Premier League offer to join Barcelona

Barcelona technical secretary Robert Fernandez has revealed that Lucas Digne turned down an offer from a Premier League club in order to move to the Nou Camp. The former Paris Saint-Germain left-back was linked with a switch to Liverpool during the summer transfer window, but instead opted to join the Catalans in a deal worth €16.5m (£13.8m, $18.3m) plus add-ons.

The 23-year-old defender enjoyed an impressive campaign on loan at Roma during the 2015-16 season, making 42 appearances in all competitions and earning a spot in France's European Championship squad, where he served as back-up for Patrice Evra.

However, the defender was unable to make himself part of PSG's plans for the new season due to the presence of Maxwell and Layvin Kurzawa. Barcelona took advantage of tis situation to lure him to the Nou Camp, where he will fill the gap left by the departure of Adriano.

The Mirror reported at the time that the Catalans had beaten Liverpool for the player's services, as Jurgen Klopp had also been tracking the left-back. The Mersysiders had also been linked with Leicester City's Ben Chilwell amid doubts about Alberto Moreno's form.

Robert Fernandez has now confirmed that an unnamed Premier League club were in negotiations with PSG over the Frenchman when Barcelona made the approach. However, Digne didn't hesitate and plumped for a Nou Camp switch, despite him starting off as back-up for Jordi Alba.

"[Digne] already had an offer from a good English team but when we got in touch with his agent he told us that the player only wanted to come to Barcelona," the club chief said to Sport, who also suggested that Liverpool were the Premier League club in question. " The negotiations with with PSG were not particularly difficult because they had already begun the negotiations with another team."