Barcelona are in store for a tumultuous transfer window.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu held a roundtable with Catalan journalists discussing the state of the club and their plans moving forward. One of the topics he covered was the squad and which players were on their way out.
Surprisingly, Bartomeu named a list of players who he deemed “untouchable.” Among the names left off the list were the likes of Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba to name a few.
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A few of those players have already made it known that despite the club putting them up for sale, they are not interested in leaving the club.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Josep Maria Orobitg, the agent of Busquets and Sergi Roberto, has denied that his clients are going to be leaving the team. He says that no one from the Catalan side has directly told him that they are up for sale.
Suarez is another player who has made his intentions clear. The Uruguayan striker is also not planning on leaving as he believes he still has plenty to offer.
Luis Suárez has absolutely no intention of leaving Barça this summer. He feels he still brings a lot of value to the team. [ovacion]
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) August 19, 2020
Despite his intentions, Diario Sport report that both he and Busquets could be used as barganing chips with Inter Milan in exchange for Lautaro Martinez. Though both will have a say and have to agree to a potential deal.
Barcelona desperate to move on from the veterans.
One way or another, Barcelona plan on moving on from some of the “sacred cows.” From a financial perspective, the hope is to reduce the wage bill as it’s become a detriment. On the sporting side, they can no longer rely on players who are on the wrong side of 30.
If the club cannot find a club for some of these players or refuse to leave, then they are planning on cutting some of their wages. A sign of how desperate they are to move then. But it’s an issue of their own making.
In his interview, Bartomeu mentioned that it was time for some of them to have a “honorable exit.” However, none of them are going to see it as honorable since they are essentially being forced out of the club.
It’s nowhere near the same as when Xavi Hernandez or Andres Iniesta left. They left on their own volition.
These players are not going to make it easy and there is going to be pushback considering how emblematic they’ve been for Barcelona.
Essentially alerting the rest of Europe that you want to get rid of players is not the best negotiating tactic. The market was already going to be uncertain and with Bartomeu’s comments, clubs are unlikely to offer much for players they know Barcelona don’t want anymore.