FC Barcelona Will Make A Big Sale This Summer

FC Barcelona are expected to make a big sale this summer to balance the books.

The La Liga club, which posted a profit of €98mn ($95.2mn) during the last financial year due to activating their first ‘economic lever’, have struggled since the pandemic and were reported to have fallen into debts exceeding $1bn.

After a series of levers were activated over the summer, however, it had been publicly insisted that the Catalans didn’t need to sell anyone from the first team.

According to SPORT, though, it is internally clear to everyone at Camp Nou that a big transfer of one of their players to another club is required which does not derail head coach Xavi Hernandez’s sporting project but brings in much-needed cash.

Sergio Busquets’ contract ending in June 2023 will help alleviate Barca’s financial woes, but Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba will still have another 12 months to run on their lucrative deals.

With Pedri, Gavi, Ansu Fati and Ronald Araujo all tied down to fresh terms that come with $1 billion release clauses, their sales would bring in several hundred million euros but would cause uproar in Catalonia.

As was the case last summer then, it seems most likely that Frenkie de Jong will be put on the transfer market once more.

Barca are said to have accepted an €85mn ($82.65mn) offer from Manchester United for his transfer in July with the 25-year-old refusing to switch allegiances due to the Red Devils’ lack of Champions League football.

Laporta and Xavi want to keep the playmaker, but his sale is central to coups for the likes of Bernardo Silva, who Xavi was interested in landing after successfully sealing Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde.

Sporting director Mateu Alemany will begin analyzing the situation in January, it is said, and conclude which players are disposable ahead of the 2023/2024 campaign.

As seen with Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho, Barca might have to be prepared to take a significant loss on what they paid for a player if it means getting his hefty wages agreed under the rule of Josep Bartomeu off the payroll.