Fermín López is now an established Barcelona midfielder, but his journey to the first team was far from straightforward.
There was a point in 2023 when Barcelona were prepared to let him leave for a fee of around €600,000. The midfielder had just returned from an impressive loan spell at Linares Deportivo, but his future at the club remained uncertain.
Then Xavi Hernández gave him an opportunity.
Fermín took it, and within a few months, the player who had been close to leaving Barcelona was scoring against Real Madrid, making his competitive debut for Barça and signing a new contract with a €400 million release clause.
It is one of those transfer stories that could have ended very differently.
Fermín López’s journey to La Masia
Born in El Campillo, Huelva, on May 11, 2003, Fermín began playing football in his hometown before joining Recreativo de Huelva. He moved to Real Betis in 2012 and spent four years in their youth system.
In the summer of 2016, Barcelona brought him to La Masia as a 13-year-old.
Fermín entered the U14A team and gradually moved through the academy ranks. He eventually reached Juvenil A, where his game began to change. Although he was not one of the academy’s most physically imposing players, he developed into a more attacking midfielder who could make runs into the penalty area and contribute goals.
That part of his game would eventually become one of his biggest strengths.
But his path was not always smooth.
Barcelona sent Fermín to Linares
After progressing through La Masia, Fermín moved to Barça Atlètic in 2022. Barcelona then sent him on loan to Linares Deportivo in Primera Federación for the 2022/23 season.
The purpose was simple. He needed regular senior football.
The move worked.
Fermín became one of Linares’ most important players and finished the season with 12 goals and 4 assists in 40 appearances, including 37 league appearances and three Copa del Rey matches.
Those numbers were significant for a midfielder playing his first full season of senior football.
More importantly, the loan gave Fermín the opportunity to play every week, compete against experienced professionals and develop the intensity required for senior football.
Barcelona noticed the progress, but his future at the club was still uncertain.
Barça nearly sold him for €600,000
When Fermín returned to Barcelona in 2023, he had just one year remaining on his contract.
The club did not initially see him as an obvious first-team player, and several clubs showed interest in signing him permanently.
Raków Częstochowa came particularly close.
According to reports from Poland that were later published by Spanish media, Barcelona and Raków had reached an agreement worth around €600,000 for Fermín. The deal eventually collapsed after changes to Raków’s coaching staff, with the new sporting regime deciding against completing the transfer.
That decision changed everything.
Had the transfer gone through, Fermín could have left Barcelona without ever making his first-team debut.
Instead, he stayed in Catalonia.
And that gave Xavi Hernández a chance to see what he could do.
Xavi changed Fermín’s situation
Fermín’s situation changed during Barcelona’s 2023 preseason.
Xavi included him in the first-team squad for the club’s tour of the United States. The midfielder suddenly found himself training and playing alongside established Barcelona stars.
He did not waste the opportunity.
The defining moment came in Dallas when Barcelona faced Real Madrid in a preseason Clásico.
Fermín came on and produced a performance that immediately caught attention. He scored a superb long-range goal and then provided the assist for Ferran Torres to complete Barcelona’s 3–0 victory.
The goal was important, but his overall performance mattered even more.
Fermín played with confidence, attacked spaces, pressed aggressively and showed that he was comfortable competing against top-level opposition.
Xavi had seen enough.
The coach decided that Fermín could contribute to the first team, and the midfielder’s situation changed from potentially leaving the club to becoming part of Barcelona’s plans. Barcelona itself later described his preseason performances as enough to convince Xavi that he could play a regular role in the first team.
In that sense, Xavi effectively stopped the exit that had been so close to happening.
From €600,000 to a €400 million release clause
Fermín’s rise continued after the United States tour.
He made his competitive Barcelona debut in August 2023 during the 4–3 victory over Villarreal.
Barcelona then moved quickly to secure his future.
On August 29, 2023, the club announced that Fermín had signed a new contract until June 2027. The agreement included a €400 million release clause.
The contrast was remarkable.
Only months earlier, Barcelona had been close to selling him for around €600,000.
Now the club had placed a €400 million release clause in his new contract.
But Fermín was only getting started.
Fermín became a first-team player
The 2023/24 season turned into Fermín’s breakthrough campaign.
He scored his first Barcelona goal against Mallorca and continued to make an impact as the season progressed. His ability to arrive late in the box, attack loose balls and shoot from distance gave Barcelona another type of threat from midfield.
He finished the season with 11 goals in 42 competitive appearances, an impressive return for a midfielder in his first full season with the senior team.
The player who had spent the previous season in Spain’s third tier was now scoring important goals for Barcelona.
His development also continued with Spain.
Fermín was part of Spain’s squad that won the European Championship in 2024, before playing a major role in the country’s Olympic gold-medal campaign in Paris. He finished the men’s Olympic football tournament as the top scorer with six goals.
His rise was no longer a surprise.
Why Fermín became so important to Barça
Fermín offers something different in Barcelona’s midfield.
He is comfortable receiving the ball and combining with teammates, but his biggest strength is what he does without the ball. He constantly looks for spaces around the opposition penalty area and makes aggressive runs from midfield.
He also brings intensity to Barcelona’s pressing game.
That combination of movement, energy and goals makes him particularly useful in games where Barcelona need someone to attack the box from midfield.
Barcelona’s official profile now describes him as a midfielder who arrives late in the box and highlights his intensity, pressing and ability to score important goals.
Those qualities are a long way from the uncertainty surrounding his future in 2023.
Barcelona made sure it would not happen again
After Fermín established himself in the first team, Barcelona continued to strengthen their commitment to him.
In October 2024, the club announced another contract extension that kept him at Barcelona until 2029.
Then, in January 2026, Barcelona reached an agreement with Fermín to extend his contract for another two seasons.
The new deal keeps him at the club until June 30, 2031. Barcelona officially completed the agreement in February 2026.
By then, there was no question about whether Fermín belonged at Barcelona.
He had gone from a player who needed a loan spell to gain experience to an established first-team midfielder whose future the club wanted to protect.
What if Fermín had joined Raków?
This is what makes the story so fascinating.
Barcelona were reportedly close to selling Fermín to Raków Częstochowa for around €600,000 in 2023.
Raków’s decision not to complete the transfer gave Barcelona another chance to assess him.
Xavi then took him on the preseason tour of the United States.
Fermín scored against Real Madrid.
The rest of the story changed almost immediately.
He stayed at Barcelona, broke into the first team and earned a contract that eventually took him through to 2031.
It is impossible to know exactly what would have happened if the Raków transfer had been completed. Fermín might have developed elsewhere and eventually returned to a bigger club. He might have taken a completely different path.
But Barcelona certainly benefited from the deal falling apart.
