Four Barcelona players no longer seen as untouchable

Ronald Koeman is not the only person who will have his Barcelona future decided on at the end of the season. The same applies to a number of the players — some who are considered club stalwarts.

The club set to meet and decide the future of four Barcelona heavyweights.

According to Mundo Deportivo, up to four dressing room heavyweights are no longer considered untouchable and could leave the club at the end of the season.

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Those players include Sergi Roberto, Antoine Griezmann, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets.

The club is set to sit down with these players and talk about their current situation. They want to discuss their futures, in particular their contracts.

These four earn high wages and, on various occasions, have been singled out for Barcelona’s latest fiascos. The feeling is that a number of them no longer have the necessary level to compete at a club like Barcelona or are simply earning more than what their contributions on the field dictate.

The last thing they want to have on their hands is another situation like at the start of the season where they had to practically give away aging players like Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal.

Pique and Roberto had injury riddled seasons and while the former put in some decent performances, the latter has struggled and out of the four, could be the “easiest” to depart with as they have enough cover in his position plus his contract is ending soon.

With Pique, the impending signing of Eric Garcia and the emergence of Oscar Mingueza and Ronald Araujo could signify the beginning of the end for him.

Busquets and Griezmann have perhaps had the best seasons out of the four players being singled out. Despite his age and lack of mobility, Busquets continues to show why he is critical in the Barcelona midfield. The change in system has helped him rediscover some of his form and that credit should go to Koeman and his staff.

Griezmann has contributed important goals but has gone missing more often than not in games where he is needed. He routinely gets dropped in important games with the Real Madrid one a perfect example. He hasn’t gelled with the team since he arrived from Atletico Madrid.

One of the things being considered is a reduction in salary. The club’s wage bill has been well-documented and they are going to try to ease that burden heading into next season.

It also gives Barcelona an easy exit plan. If any of the players decline to lower their wages, which is a possibility, then the club will do what they can to move them on during the summer transfer window.