Barca fire sale! Who will be sold after failure to register Gavi's contract?

Stuart Telford

• 26 Jan 2023 14:25 GMT
• 4 min read

Barcelona were unable to register Gavi's new contract on Wednesday after falling foul of La Liga financial regulations, and the Blaugrana could be set for a fire sale. Which players are most likely to leave?

Gavi signed a new four-year deal in September, one which included a €1 billion release clause and the promise to inherit the No.6 jersey once worn by head coach and club legend Xavi.

But the club, who were €1.35bn in debt when they lost Lionel Messi on a free transfer to PSG the summer before last, remain in financial trouble, not least because of their group stage exit from this season's Champions League.

READ: Barcelona can't register new Gavi contract

"Financial levers" - the sale of a percentage of future revenues - were activated by Barca president Joan Laporta, but report from Spain suggest they could now be ready to part ways with 100 per cent of Barca TV with the station generating losses.

Although the club technically remain solvent, their profit/loss margin is too narrow for La Liga to allow them to register any new contracts this season, even accounting for Memphis Depay's recent €3 million transfer to Atletico Madrid, and the circa €6m his offloaded salary frees up.

Which Barca players are for sale?

Robert Lewandowski and Ousmane Dembele are regarded as the two untouchable players in the squad, the former hitting 22 goals in 24 games following his €50m arrival from Bayern Munich last summer; the latter enjoying an incredible upturn in form after re-signing for a second spell when his future had looked to lie away from Camp Nou.

READ: Barcelona to sell THREE stars to make two players untouchable

But alongside them in the final third, almost nobody is safe. The club are listening to offers, primarily from the Premier League, for Raphinha, who has struggled to recreate his Leeds form in Spain.

While the Brazilian is rated at €47.1m by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, Barca hope to fetch even more for Ferran Torres - rated at €57.5m - even though the former Manchester City man has pulled ahead of Raphinha in the pecking order of wingers at Barca. Even Ansu Fati, who also has a €1bn release clause, could go.

"He's fine at Barça, but Jorge Mendes [Fati’s agent] has told the coach that if the boy doesn't play, he'll change his team," Fati’s uncle Braima Camar told RAC1 recently.

Elsewhere, Man Utd's ears will have pricked up at the Gavi news. Whilst they have a passing interest in the youngster, his fellow midfielder Frenkie de Jong was their top transfer target last summer. He dug his heels in about staying, but with United on course to qualify for next season's the Champions League they will be tempted to try again.

Barca are likely to push such a move again too. De Jong is their highest-paid player on €37.5m gross a year, and also their most saleable asset, valued at €58.2m by FootballTransfers.