Despite being one of the biggest and most successful clubs in the world, Barcelona are currently in a financial mess – and it means they could be forced to sell players.
The Spanish giants spent an eye-watering amount of money on wages and transfer fees during Josep Maria Bartomeu’s presidency.
Barca were famously not able to register a new contract for Lionel Messi, who joined Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent last summer.
“When we arrived, we could not pay the salaries for the month of May,” current president Joan Laporta said recently. “The economic entities had not received their instalments for three months.
“We were almost dead. When we arrived, we managed to revive the club, we restructured the club and its debt.”
But the Balugrana still need more work to reduce the club’s debt and balance their books. We’ve taken a look at five players recently linked with a move away from Barcelona who they may look to cash in on.
Frenkie de Jong
Let’s start with the big one.
De Jong joined Barcelona from Ajax in a £63.5million deal and has been one of the first names on the team sheet, making 140 appearances in all competitions.
But the Spanish side are willing to let him leave as they have just signed Franck Kessie on a free transfer and also have some brilliant young midfielders in Gavi, Pedri and Nico Gonzalez.
“De Jong is basically the only sale Barca can close with a certain value,” a source told The Atheltic.
Erik ten Hag, who worked with De Jong at Ajax, is now in the dugout at Manchester United and has made the midfielder his top transfer target.
There’s only one problem. De Jong doesn’t want to go anywhere.
“I prefer to stay with Barcelona,” the midfielder told ESPN in May. “Barcelona is just my dream club. Also from a young age, I just said it, too.
“I’ve never regretted my choice despite the fact that I had hoped for more in terms of prizes than I’ve achieved so far. But I have never regretted my choice.”
According to reports, he must accept a hefty pay cut to stay at Camp Nou. But De Jong doesn’t want to reduce his wages, especially when Barcelona owe him €17million in deferred salary payments.
Consequently, Barcelona have been in conversations with United over a potential transfer. Both sides have reportedly agreed to a €65million fixed fee but are still discussing the structure of the €20million add-ons.
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