Why can’t Barcelona register new players? They have to sell someone, but the players don’t want to leave

A big problem now has to be solved by the Barcelona management. Because in order to register Ferran Torres and any other reinforcements, someone has to leave first. But that will be a tricky one, because some players refuse to leave.

Because of the crazy economy in the past years, La Liga has cut Barcelona’s salary cap for the current season by 286 million euros. So Lionel Messi had to leave, but even that wasn’t enough and captains Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquéts and Jordi Alba currently have their salaries taken.

But in the winter, the scenario repeats itself. Barcelona still don’t have enough space under the salary cap, which is why new signing Ferrán Torres is still waiting to see what happens to him. According to journalist Lú Martin, Barcelona even wanted to negotiate a clause with Manchester City to be able to bring Torres back if they fail to sign him.

Until then, Ferran cannot play for Barcelona. So what do the Culés have to do to register any new signings? They have to sell someone at any cost, or get rid of players with big salaries.

The first dropout is Demir. The 18-year-old Austrian came on loan from Rapid Vienna, and if he plays 10 games, his €10 million clause would be automatically activated. Demir has played 9 games and will not add another, so Barcelona are currently deciding how to end his loan spell.

Philippe Coutinho and Samuel Umtiti should be next in line. A departure looks more likely for the Brazilian footballer, who is keen to start regularly again. However, the same cannot be said for the French stopper.

The latter is blocking any efforts by Barcelona for his departure. The Catalans have been trying to get rid of Umtiti for 3 years now, but without success. The 28-year-old stopper has once again refused the request of the Barcelona management to leave, reportedly he would only accept an offer from a team that plays in the Champions League. However, such an offer is unlikely to come for the 28-year-old defender who has not featured for almost two years.

Why doesn’t Umtiti want to leave anyway? According to Salary Sport, he is taking over €15 million at Camp Nou, making him one of the highest paid players in the squad. However, he doesn’t play games, having only appeared in one game this season. So he’s making a lot of money and he’s not even putting in much effort. At the moment, he seems to have enough and doesn’t need football to live.

But if Barcelona can’t convince Umtiti or Coutinho to leave, he’ll be a big embarrassment. It would not be able to sign the already bought Torres, who would spend the whole spring watching his team in the stands.

Source: Marca, Salary Sport