Barça have to sell before buying

Barça have to sell before buying

Lluís Mascaró

Director de Información Deportiva de Prensa Ibérica

Verratti debe actuar en caso de querer jugar en el Camp Nou
Verratti debe actuar en caso de querer jugar en el Camp Nou | AFP

Barcelona need 200 million euros to sign their three top targets this summer: Bellerin, Verratti and Dembele. Supposing (and it's a lot to suppose) that Arsenal, PSG and Juventus would negotiate the sale of their players, the Blaugrana would not have enough money to pay for them all. Because Barça, at the moment, do not have 200 million to spend. The (bad) investment made over the last two years on backup players (Arda Turan, Aleix Vidal, Cillessen, Digne, André Gomes, Denis Suárez, Paco Alcácer) and just one regular starter (Umtiti) has cost the club a lot. So much that now to buy they must sell first. 'Operation Exit' will be as important (or more important) as 'Operation Entrance'. And that's where Robert Fernandez will have to do his best work. The sporting director has up to 10 players who could leave the club: Turan, Digne, Aleix Vidal, Rafinha, Mathieu and those that have been on loan in Douglas, Vermaelen, Munir, Tello and Samper. It's almost mission impossible.

For many of those players, who all have contracts, it will be tough to find teams. Or, at least, teams who will pay a transfer fee. Barça will have to make do with freeing up their wages. Especially in the cases of Douglas, Vermaelen, Mathieu and Turan. Very few offers (if any) have arrived at Camp Nou's offices for them. And Robert's task will be to find club willing to pay some money for those players. Money which is needed to sign the three starters Ernesto Valverde has requested for his new project. Signing substitutes, as has been the case for two years, has only led to the Copa del Rey. It's imperative to have the best players behind the trident and supplying them so that their goals do not fall on deaf ears.