Barcelona wanted to sign Philippe Coutinho this summer
Barcelona were keen to sign a midfielder before Spain’s transfer deadline on Friday.
The Nou Camp club went after Liverpool star Coutinho and had Di Maria as a back-up target.
That was after they surprisingly dropped their interest in Seri, despite Nice agreeing a £36.9million (€40m) transfer fee.
And Spanish newspaper Sport claim it was Valverde who pulled the plug on the deal.
According to the report, the Barca manager was so keen to secure Coutinho he didn’t want to imbalance the squad by adding Seri to his side as well.
Seri was furious after his proposed deal to Barca fell through and blamed the French club for ruining his dream move.
As for Coutinho, Liverpool refused to sell the player at any price and successfully kept the Brazilian.
Barca claimed Liverpool had asked for a £183m transfer fee but the Reds have denied that was the case, insisting from the start that the 25-year-old couldn’t leave.
Philippe Coutinho scores INCREDIBLE goal for Brazil
PSG requested a staggering £73m for Di Maria - almost three times more than Barca’s highest offer for the Argentine.
The playmaker was available for transfer after PSG signed Neymar and Kylian Mbappe this summer.
Sport add that Valverde's priority this summer was to sign players who could provide depth and balance to the squad, which is also why he moved to sign Ousmane Dembele.
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