Barça will not allow Adriano to leave on a free transfer

Adriano will only be able to leave Barça if the club receives financial compensation in return for his services.

For weeks, the Brazilian has been touted as being on the verge of joining Lazio, with his agent also requesting a letter of freedom from sporting director, Robert Fernandez.

Only three months ago, Adriano had executed the automatic renewal clause in his contract as part of a commitment made in May 2013, and is now tied to Barça until June 30, 2017.

The Blaugrana then improved his first contract signed in June 2010 after arriving at the Camp Nou from Sevilla.

Adriano was a player very much used by Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova, who both acknowledged his versatility across the defensive positions.

Last season, the 31-year-old's role under Luis Enrique was almost non-existent participating in just 19 games and he didn't even come into the team when Jordi Alba was injured. Instead, Enrique preferred both Jeremy Mathieu and Sergi Roberto.

Barça understands that the defender is a key squad player. In addition, it'd be a daunting task to find a replacement in order to reinforce the left-back position alongside Alba with the required quality and at a suitable price.

For such a small amount of money - five million euros in fact - it seems remarkable that Barça and Lazio can't reach an amicable agreement.