FC Barcelona will need to make 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 happening in the winter transfer window is now in jeopardy.
Mundo Deportivo added that Barca didn’t particularly want to sell one of its stars to keep their original plan intact, but it now looks as though this is what will need to happen 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 under head coach Xavi Hernandez’s orders.
This is why the club initially tried to sell Ansu Fati, but could only muster a loan move to 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 they themselves have generated from 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 could want to make him stay at the Estadi Montilivi but his performances could also attract interest from further afield.
Even with the potential sales of Fati and Garcia, however, it is hard to believed that those operations would raise the required funds for the Blaugrana.
Additionally, they might have to look to find a buyer for someone like Raphinha – previously rated at €80 million ($84 million) – while wing rival Ferran Torres will probably also be 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 the likes of El Nacional on how Pedri might be placed in the shop window if he doesn’t become more reliable in terms of not picking up injuries with such frequeny.
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