Barcelona plan to sell four first-team players in the January market
Barcelona have got their work cut out in front of them and it is very demanding on the outside. One can only imagine how it must be on the inside.
The main talking point about Barcelona’s downfall in recent years has been about their financial blunders and shortcomings and by the looks of it, their past decisions are back again, but this time to haunt them.
More from Everything Barca
- FC Barcelona tracking Belgian Wonderkid
- FC Barcelona vs Betis Player Ratings
- Barça boss Xavi to get contract extension
- FC Barcelona planning swoop for Arsenal midfielder
- Barcelona interested in €30 million wonderkid
The Blaugrana spent truckloads of money on Coutinho, Dembele and Griezmann, all three who haven’t eased into their roles. These three decisions have come back to hurt them as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hurt their warchest. As per Goal, Barcelona must sell first in January if they are to sign any new players. This has been confirmed by their interim president, Carles Tusquets.
Two names closely linked to the Blaugrana were Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia. One must keep in mind that both the players were eager for a move to the Camp Nou and had even agreed to the personal terms with the club. However, Barcelona had to pull out and deals collapsed on the final day due to the financial shortcomings of Barcelona. In simple terms, they simply cannot afford the wages of Depay and Garcia.
Moreover, Georginio Wijnaldum was linked with a move to Camp Nou as well. The deal could not go through, however.
This is precisely why they must sell before they are to buy.
The players that are closest to a rumoured club departure this winter are Ousmane Dembele, Carles Arena, Martin Braithwaite, and Samuel Umtiti. Even if the sale of only one of the listed players go through, they will be able to afford Depay or Garcia.
Another option they have is to agree on a pre-contract terms as both these players are set to run out of contracts at the end of the this season, following which they would be available as free transfers. Now, this would usually be advisable but with Barcelona’s current position in mind, they ought to put a time clock on these transfers.
Lionel Messi has shouldered a lot of weight this season and it only seems to be growing further. The arrival of Memphis Depay should ease a bit of that heavy burden on his shoulders and could possibly give the 33-year-old a bit of confidence on his teammates. If this does happen, Messi could well end up staying another year at Barcelona.
One thing is clear though. Lautaro Martinez to Barca is a distant possibility simply because of the financial limitations of the club.
The Catalan giants are currently struggling in the La Liga and are sitting in the 12th position in the points table. To make matters worse, they dropped three points in the home leg against Real Madrid and are currently eight points behind them. They have been winless in their last four consecutive outings in the La Liga and will soon look to get back to winning ways.