2023-05-22 08:00:34
BarcelonaWith the League already in full swing and with the only incentives to maintain the competitive pace and guarantee individual prizes, Xavi Hernández and the sports management – Deco has not been officially announced, but holds work meetings – are focused on sports planning of a new summer conditioned by fair play. If it’s been a year, it’s gone revolutionize the staff at the stroke of a lever, this year the main way to generate income and square with the salary margin is, above all, through the sale of players. At the same time, the club will apply cuts in the various sports sections, which also count in the sports salaries, although the bulk corresponds to the first football team.
The goal is for Barça to stop being overpaid by 200 million euros in the fair play and can prove the “breakeven point” that the League claims to go to the market without being subject to the 40% rule (for every ten million saved, only four can be spent). Only then will the sports management be able to satisfy the wishes of Xavi, who is asking to keep the starting block and strengthen it to make the leap of talent necessary to also compete in Europe. President Joan Laporta announced after the culmination of the League title at the RCDE Stadium his commitment to make a “more competitive” team.
The club’s forecast, despite the economic situation in Dante and the drop in income that the move to the Lluís Companys stadium will mean, is to sign. Before that, however, from the offices of Sant Joan Despí they also remember that the registrations of the new contracts of Ronald Araujo and Pablo Páez Gavi must be resolved, as well as the renewal and salary adjustment of Alejandro Balde. Before considering the return of Leo Messi, the main concerns of the sports management are to secure these contracts.
What are the sales that Barça wants to face in order to make a drawer?
Apart from a policy of cuts that the club has put in black and white in the feasibility plan that it presented to the League at the end of April, the sports management has a list of transferable footballers to make drawer. Despite the fact that numerically the sale of players like Andreas Christensen would be a great injection for the Blaugrana coffers – his value has increased after a great season and his transfer would mean a net sale because it came at zero cost –, it will start the market with the will to keep the players who have been core this year as non-transferable.
The list of footballers that Barça will try to transfer is headed by Ansu Fati, Franck Kessie, Ferran Torres and, despite the fact that the coach would like to continue counting on them, Raphinha. The Brazilian is the one with the most posters and, in addition, his coexistence collides with Deco, chosen as the new technical secretary by Joan Laporta and who commissions the winger’s salary to be his agent. Raphinha’s future is also dependent on what Dembélé does. “We trust in his willingness to stay, he feels important and he is at ease”, they explain to ARA from the Ciutat Esportiva. The club will also seek to make money with the sale of loanees, as is the case with Ez Abde and Nico, retaining buyback options or capital gains from a future sale.
They also want to seal the final departure of Clément Lenglet at Tottenham, where he is a starter and who expects to know what will happen on the bench of the spurs, temporarily occupied by Ryan Mason. In fact, the English coach has already said publicly that the intention is to continue counting on the French. The same goes for Samuel Umtiti. The centre-back, with a contract with Barça until 2026, has returned to feeling like a footballer at Lecce, who would like to keep him under conditions similar to those of this season: that is, by paying a small part of his salary and performance-related bonuses. Barça’s intention, however, is to get rid of his salary once and for all. Umtiti, who has completed eight consecutive Italian league games by completing 90 minutes, has attracted interest from other Italian clubs.
What positions does Xavi Hernández want to strengthen?
On the other hand, the Barça that Xavi imagines is expected to strengthen in almost every line except in goal, well covered by Marc-André ter Stegen and substitutes Iñaki Peña and Arnau Tenas. With the departure of Sergio Busquets, the main priority is to strengthen the pivot position. Joshua Kimmich (28 years old) meets the requirements that the coach is looking for. The German, however, has a contract until 2025 with Bayern Munich and one of the highest salaries in the Bavarian staff. Martín Zubimendi (24) also likes Xavi a lot, but his clause is 60 million euros and he has a contract with Real Sociedad until 2027. The main alternatives are Guido Rodríguez, from Betis, or Sofyan Amrabat, from Fiorentina. The scorer Jorge Mendes has also put Rúben Neves, from Wolverhampton, on the table, but he does not convince the coach.
On the other hand, Mateu Alemany closed the free signing of Iñigo Martínez a long time ago. Other positions that Xavi wants to strengthen are right-back – Foyth, from Villarreal, is the one he likes the most – and centre-forward: Aubameyang, who maintains an excellent relationship with the dressing room, would be delighted to return to Barça later that Thomas Tuchel was fired from Chelsea. Barça maintains a preferential right to incorporate Yannick Carrasco, from Atlético de Madrid, but it is an operation subject to what happens with Raphinha-Dembélé-Abde.
These are additions, however, that go behind the arrival of Ilkay Gündogan, captain of Manchester City, proclaimed this weekend champion of the Premier League and finalist of the Champions League, and the icing on the cake: the return of Leo Messi . Although the Argentine’s arrival is a major financial undertaking, those around him argue that a decision will not be made until the end of the season with PSG, with whom he has two more games to play.
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