Barcelona vs Preston North End cancelled for extremely strange reason

Barcelona vs Preston North End will no longer go ahead for a peculiar reason.

The Spanish giants and the original Invincibles were scheduled to go head-to-head tomorrow in a behind-closed-doors friendly at St. George’s Park.

Preston North End could not produce a senior squad to play Barcelona

After suffering a humiliating loss to Birmingham City on penalties, Barcelona were excited to do a number on Championship club, Preston North End. However, the La Liga side’s opportunity against ‘The Lilywhites’ has been swept from beneath its feet.

According to Mundo Deportivo, the English club made a call that resulted in the match falling through. The Spanish publication claims that Preston did not want to risk their senior stars for the game, and thus, suggested the idea of a showdown between Barcelona and their under-21 squad, with the Lancashire team unable to produce a full line-up of star players.

After hearing the offer, the European powerhouses opted to turn down the idea, and instead host a standard training session.

Preston have a crunch League Cup tie with Huddersfield Town coming up, while Barcelona have friendlies ahead against Udinese and Nottingham Forest in a three-team tournament, in which 45-minute matches will take place at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine. After this, they will host Egyptian outfit Al Ahly in the Joan Gamper Trophy back home at Camp Nou.

Preston attempt to keep hold of Ben Whiteman

The Barcelona ordeal isn’t the only drama that Preston have had to deal with, as the club has been trying to fend off Wrexham to keep Ben Whiteman, with the Welsh side potentially willing to offer £2 million.

Manager, Paul Heckingbottom, informed BBC Radio Lancashire: “Ben told me, told Peter [Ridsdale, CEO] he’s played his last game for the club. He’s trying to force a move, which is an issue for me, for the players.

“We’ve been in regular conversations in the last few days, and Ben knew there was a line I didn’t want him to cross. Unfortunately, he has, and you can’t have that.

“My priority now is the players that are here and the players who want to play for us, and represent the club… Listen, there’s a valuation on him. I just hope for Ben’s sake that Wrexham are willing to pay it; otherwise, he’s put himself in a really sticky situation.”

Featured Image Credit: Getty