Moreover, Gerard, who had joined Barcelona, had turned down AC Milan's sincere pursuit for the sake of his commitment to the Blaugrana!
If he had gone to Serie A, his future might have been different.
At that time, AC Milan's Gennaro Gattuso, who was a competitor for the same position as Gerard, hadn't made any eye-catching performances and would very likely have lost the competition against Gerard Lopez.
It was starting with Gerard Lopez that Barcelona began a tradition of poaching players from Valencia, subsequently taking players like Villa, Alba, Andre Gomes, and Paco Alcacer from the bat army, among them some superstars.
In this wave of acquisitions, Barcelona had spent all the "dirty money" from the Figo deal, and even lost more than 10 million euros, which finally satisfied the fans.
Barcelona firmly believed that with such aggressive recruitment, they would welcome a bright season!
