More Barcelona problems: time is running out for the club, reinforcements still can’t play

If Barcelona don’t start selling surplus players quickly, they will be in big trouble. The new reinforcements are still not registered and cannot start the matches. The financial ceiling is relentless.

The club is trying to make it clear to the public that all is well, but Xavi’s words may have left some fear in the fans.

“At the moment, I would say we are optimistic,” said Xavi about Barcelona’s difficult situation. That’s not exactly a statement that shakes confidence that everything will turn out well.

And what is the problem? Barcelona pays players an astronomical 560 million euros in salaries. Real Madrid are on 400 million, Bayern are on half that of Barcelona.

And given the club’s financial crisis, this has a huge impact. La Liga sets a financial ceiling for all clubs every year, and given Barcelona’s appalling performance in recent years, the league’s management has cut the Catalans’ financial ceiling by a lot. And the financial leverage hasn’t helped either, with Barcelona receiving hundreds of millions from the sale of club rights.

So what is the situation at the moment? If Barcelona doesn’t sell anyone, it can’t register any new signings and add them to the roster. The Culés have already brought in Lewandowski, Raphinha, Christensen and Kessié, and the players who have not extended their contracts but signed new ones are also counted, i.e. Dembélé and Sergi Roberto.

Neither of these players are currently listed as Barcelona players on the La Liga website. And it won’t happen until the Culés sell some players.

The first to go is Frenkie de Jong. An excellent footballer who Xavi wants to keep, it’s just that in the current situation Barcelona just don’t have the money for him if they want to sign up new signings. His big salary would free up a substantial amount under the salary cap for new players.

But the problem is that de Jong has no intention of leaving Catalonia. Moreover, the club still owes him €17 million from last season and the Dutchman will not leave without paying his wages.

Another surplus is Memphis Depay. Ahead of the Dutch striker in the hierarchy are Lewandowski, Aubameyang, Fati, Raphinha, Torres and Dembélé and having a seventh striker of such quality and with such a salary is an unnecessary luxury.

Barcelona would be happy to cash in €20 million for him, the problem is that no team has yet found a team willing to shell out the amount for Depay.

However, if the Blaugranas don’t start selling, they have a problem. La Liga will start for them on August 13, if the salary cap can’t be emptied by then, Lewandowski, Raphinha and co will only watch their teammates from the stands.

Source: MARCA