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Eight transfer dealing that Barcelona must be looking to complete in January

Given their pre-existing financial issues coupled with the unexpected coronavirus-enforced crisis, Barcelona FC handled the window well. But despite the busy window, the squad still looked unbalanced.

Eight transfer dealing that Barcelona must be looking to complete in January

Bengaluru, Nov 20: Cash strapped Barcelona are expecting a busy winter window in terms of both arrivals and departures as they look to settle their bloated financial structure.

The Catalan side made a total of 14 transfers in the Summer where they signed the likes of Miralem Pjanic, Pedri, Francisco Trincao, Matheus Fernandes and Sergino Dest while letting go the big names like Luis Suarez, Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitic, Arthur Melo, Nelson Semedo, Rafinha, Carles Perez, Marc Cucurella and Jean Claire Todibo. They secured €127 million from the player sales spending €119 million from it for new transfers.

Given their pre-existing financial issues coupled with the unexpected coronavirus-enforced crisis, the club handled the window well. But despite the busy window, the squad still looked unbalanced.

The chiefs have made it clear they still need to balance the books first after reporting losses of £88million. However, it is evident that the team still need improvement in the first team.

Hence, the side is now again expected to sell first before signing anyone next due to their financial constraints situation.

As per reports, Barcelona are looking to sign two fresh faces in January, however, there could be four departures to continue the transition and maintain the wage bill.

Here the probable names the Spanish giants are looking to get in and trying to offload:

Outgoing

The management is keen on selling at least four members of the first-team squad in January as Junior Firpo, Samuel Umtiti, Matheus Fernandes and Martin Braithwaite reportedly are the quartet up for sale.

Umtiti is close to returning from a knee injury which has restricted him from featuring at all this term. But Koeman does see him in his plans and the management hence are looking to recoup the fee. Lyon and Roma are reportedly interested in signing the France international.

Left-back Firpo also has failed to impress Koeman and would be offload with around £18million price tag on his head. He is attracting interest from Italy, with Inter and Napoli keen on a potential loan with an option to buy.

Fernandes and Braithwaite are not even in the contention for the side and Barca would like to raise as much money as they can from selling them.

Besides them, they may also seek loan deals for youngsters Riqui Puig and Carles Alena to find loan moves to get more regular first-team action but on short-term deals.

Incoming

Koeman wanted to sign Dutch compatriot Depay from Lyon in the summer but did not have the funds available to complete a deal. But it is understood that the interest could revive again in January.

Manchester City's Eric Garcia is another name, the Catalan giants are monitoring closely. Garcia only has six months remaining in his deal but Barcelona are reportedly prepared to make an offer when the window reopens in the hope of signing the player as early as January, rather than waiting until the summer.

But even for these transfers, the La Liga side must offload players in order to afford the duo — both of whom are expected to cost in the range of €10-15 million each.

Story first published: Friday, November 20, 2020, 17:38 [IST]
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