The agent of Sebastian Giovinco has revealed the former Juventus striker and Major League Soccer star turned down the chance to play for Barcelona 12 months ago.
Giovinco, 30, has spent the last two years with Toronto FC after joining the MLS outfit from Juventus in 2015 and quickly established himself as the best player in the division.
The former Italy international still has nearly three years remaining on his existing deal with Toronto but has been linked with a lucrative move to China this month, although it could have all been different had the accepted a proposal from Barcelona when the reigning La Liga champions came calling last January.
Barcelona had been looking for a back-up striker to enable Luis Enrique to rotate Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi when necessary but that would have likely meant Giovinco would have spent the remainder of that season on the bench.
“In January 2016, the Barcelona directors came to Milan with the intention of signing Giovinco on loan, but Sebastian said no,” his agent, Andre D’Amico, told Mediaset Premium, via Football Italia.
“Toronto would not have let him go either. He was brought in to help grow the club, as proved this year when he gave a dream to the Italian fans of Canada.”
In the last two MLS campaigns Giovinco has played a direct hand at least 19 more goals than any other player in the division (72).
Not only that, but of players to have featured in at least five games in that time only Omar Gonzalez (7.70) has garnered a higher WhoScored rating than Giovinco (7.61).
For more stats on Sebastian Giovinco, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
