Chelsea baulked at €50m tag for Frank Lampard-style midfielder who is now Barcelona superstar

Fermin Lopez has transformed into an important player for Barcelona – and Chelsea turned down the opportunity to sign him.

Barca continued their excellent start to the new LaLiga season with a 5-0 thrashing of Valencia on Sunday.

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Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Pedri were the headline names among the goals, but Lopez was another player to find the target.

The 23-year-old also provided two assists in the victory and now sits on six overall league contributions across four appearances.

Lopez has started in all but one of those, with boss Hansi Flick having faith in the player’s attacking midfield abilities.

“He’s just a phenomenal footballer and really underrated,” European football journalist Kevin Hatchard said on Trans Europe Express for talkSPORT.

“I think if you ask most people to name a load of Barcelona stars, he wouldn’t be that high on that list.

“But I think he’s getting better and better all the time, and he’s a player that I think… not Lamine levels, but I think he’s a top, top player.”

Chelsea missed out on Lampard-like star

Hatchard also credited past interest in Lopez from Chelsea, who looked to sign him late on in the 2025 summer transfer window.

However, reports from Spain claimed that the Premier League giants did not want to exceed a €50million (£43m) fee for his signature.

Lopez has since demonstrated his ability to make late runs into the box from midfield to score goals.

It’s a trait that Chelsea legend Frank Lampard was hugely successful at, especially when he remains their all-time top scorer with 211 goals.

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Fellow European journalist Andy Brassell added further insight into what Lopez is capable of, saying: “I think back to Hansi Flick’s first season (2024/25).

“I went to the game where they dumped the Bayern (Munich) curse, they beat Bayern 4-1 in the Champions League at Montjuic (Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys). He was the best player on the pitch in that, he was unbelievable.

“He does that Frank Lampard thing of getting into the box late. If you think of all those other players that can do that, and have been able to do that over the years, he’s got superior technical ability to any of them. The mobility is incredible, the engine is incredible.

“I think when you look at the goal that he set up just after half-time for Raphinha, which killed the game, he runs about 70 yards to get the ball and tap in.

“There’s just so much about him, it’s remarkable to think that he would be a Chelsea player now if Chelsea had said, ‘Yes, we will pay €50m for him’, when Barcelona were desperate for money.

“But they thought, ‘They’re trying to rinse us, aren’t they? Because we’re a Premier League club’, and so they baulked at the price, said no, and the rest is history.”

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New-look attack at Chelsea

Although they may rue the decision to not sign Lopez when they had the chance, Chelsea certainly added quality in the summer just gone.

They most notably signed Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa for a club-record £117m.

Rogers has already scored two goals, one of which came in their 2-1 weekend defeat to Arsenal, and assisted one other in four matches.

Xabi Alonso plays him alongside his long-term friend Cole Palmer, and the pair are complemented by Joao Pedro.

All three players have found the target in the league this season as Chelsea have the joint-most goals scored with Brighton on eight.