Sports

Barcelona in race against time to sell stars in bid to balance books


Barcelona are allegedly doing all they can to try to sell a number of players before the end of June in order to balance the club’s books.

The Catalan giants are just one of a number of teams struggling financially due to the effects of coronavirus, with their vice president Jordi Cardoner recently saying the crisis has already cost them between €120m (£107m) and €140m (£125m).

With the financial year ending on June 30, the club are desperate to claw back some money via transfer fees and wage cuts by then, and according to ESPN they are willing to consider offers for a variety of members of their squad.

Samuel Umtiti has been linked with Arsenal

The likes of Arthur Melo, Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal are among those who are reportedly willing to move on if they receive the right offer, while Barcelona also want to get rid of Junior Firpo, Nelson Semedo and Samuel Umtiti, the latter having been strongly linked with the likes of Arsenal in recent weeks.

They are also ready to cut their losses on Ousmane Dembele and offload the French forward for just £37m just three years after signing him for £137m.

And another expensive flop, Philippe Coutinho, is also very much up for sale, with Bayern Munich having turned down the opportunity to make his loan spell permanent.

Barcelona are currently finding it difficult to find potential buyers for any of their players, however, particularly given the current climate, with so many teams facing uncertain financial futures.

Philippe Coutinho has also been linked with a Premier League return

It is also not yet clear when the transfer window will be open, especially given that a number of divisions, including La Liga, are set to get back underway in the coming weeks.

Barcelona currently sit top of La Liga, two points above bitter rivals Real Madrid with 11 games left to play, and were in a strong position to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League after drawing 1-1 away against Napoli in the first leg of their last-16 clash.





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