Why Demir might never play for Barca again
Barcelona are having a torrid time both on and off the football pitch this season.
Continuing financial difficulties and poor form mean it is hard to see things picking up anytime soon.
Already out of the group stages of the Champions League after scoring only twice in six group games, the Blaugrana trail bitter rivals Real Madrid by 18 points in La Liga.
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And replacing former head coach Ronald Koeman with Xavi also came at a financial cost, with reports Barca had to pay the Dutchman €12 million to pay up his contract.
Not only does this mean the club have a limited January transfer budget, but it is now reportedly having an impact on Xavi's team selection for matches.
Xavi's latest first team problem
In August, Barcelona signed Austrian wonderkid Yusuf Demir on loan from Rapid Vienna.
With an option to buy Demir included in the deal, there was also a clause that meant if Demir played ten first-team matches, Barca would have to pay Rapid €10m.
When Koeman signed Demir, the plan was for the 18-year-old to spend most of his time with Barcelona B. The club would then introduce him into the first team slowly.
But with the team struggles this season, both Koeman and Xavi have used Demir, and he has made nine appearances for the Camp Nou side so far.
That means just one more outing in a first-team shirt and the club will be forced to pay out money they don't have right now.
The result is it is unlikely we will see Demir in a Barcelona shirt again this season.
However, as.com reports that Barcelona might leave the player out for January and play him from February onwards, incorporating the €10m they would owe Rapid into the end of season payments.
Why Demir won't play for Barca again
The situation that Demir faces is no fault of his own.
It is another indicator of just how badly run things continue to be at Camp Nou.
€1m per game for ten games is ridiculous money for a football team steeped in financial problems.
It is plausible you may see Demir in a Barcelona shirt again. But he has arguably not done enough in his nine appearances to convince the top brass at Barca to loosen the purse strings for such a move.
