FC Barcelona will need a big player sale this summer in order to navigate Financial Fair Play limits, reduce their outgoings on salaries, and bring in fresh faces according to SPORT.
The Catalan daily newspaper isn’t the only outlet to have shed light on this topic in recent times.
A few weeks ago, when Barca’s salary limit of €648 million ($680 million) dropped to €270 million ($283 million) as determined by La Liga, rival publication Mundo Deportivo reported that a big name would need to be offloaded to make the arrival of Vitor Roque in January happen.
Barca signed the Brazilian teenager for a fixed €30 million ($31.5 million) plus €31 million ($32.5 million) in add-ons from Athletico-Paranaense earlier this year, but the move being completed in the winter transfer window has been reported as “impossible” in the club’s current economic climate.
Mundo Deportivo added that Barca didn’t particularly want to sell one of their stars to keep their original plan intact, but it now looks as though this is what will need to occur on a general scale irrespective of when Roque crosses the Atlantic.
Barca would reportedly prefer to offload someone who isn’t enjoying many minutes on the pitch on head coach Xavi Hernandez’s orders.
This is why the club initially tried to sell Ansu Fati, yet they could only muster a loan move for the La Masia product towards the close of the recent transfer market.
Fati has already scored his first goal for Brighton but is struggling to adapt in England. There is still plenty of time to turn things round, though, and with the money generated from the sales of the likes of Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister, the south coast overachievers could be in a good place to buy Fati permanently if he starts to fulfil his potential.
Another player out on loan, Eric Garcia, is having a far better time at Girona who he helped top La Liga for the first time in club history last week.
Barca’s Catalan neighbours might want to have him stay at the Estadi Montilivi come June 30, but Garcia’s performances could also attract interest from further afield as well.
Even with the potential sales of Fati and Garcia, however, it is hard to believe that those operations would raise the required funds for the Blaugrana.
Additionally, they will probably have to find a buyer for someone like Raphinha – previously rated at €80 million ($84 million) – while wing rival Ferran Torres is also surplus to requirements despite a recent upturn in form.
Barca tried to sell Frenkie de Jong in 2022 and probably won’t again, but there have been reports from El Nacional on how Pedri could be placed in the shop window if he doesn’t become more reliable in terms of not picking up injuries with such frequency.
