Frenkie de Jong, Ansu Fati and the players Barcelona can sell to raise €200m

Suraj Radia

• 3 Mar 2023 15:48 GMT
• 3 min read

Barcelona have been told they may need to raise €200 million in player sales in order to make signings this summer due to their precarious financial situation.

The Catalan side have been under huge scrutiny in recent years for their ballooning wage bill but they were still able to spend more than €200m last year on the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde and Raphinha.

However, La Liga president Javier Tebas revealed that Barcelona do not have any room in their budget to sign players and that the league would block them from any incoming deals until the club balanced their books.

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Although Barca president Joan Laporta has repeatedly denied the severity of the issue, the club financed their business last year through a host of ‘economic levers’ by selling off merchandising and TV rights – something which Tebas insists will not be possible this summer.

With the club needing to raise in excess of €200m to be able to freely sign players again, FootballTransfers takes a look at which stars Barcelona could cash in on to generate income, using our in-house transfer algorithm (ETV) to determine the value of potential sales.

Which players can be sold to raise money for Barcelona?

Barcelona’s highest-value player according to their ETV is Gavi, however, despite being worth more than €97m, the 18-year-old is certainly off the table and is considered the club’s jewel in their crown, as well as Pedri.

One player who is likely to be pursued by other teams is Frenkie de Jong, with Manchester United reportedly considering another approach for the midfielder after missing out on him last summer.

Barca accepted a bid in excess of €80m for De Jong last year but the Dutchman has since become an integral part of Xavi’s team and the club do not wish to sell him anymore, although United will certainly test their resolve even if they may have to submit a higher offer than before.

The club’s financial status means that offers beyond the valuation of players will likely be considered, meaning that Ansu Fati, whose declining form and fitness concerns have given him a value of just €27.4m, could be cashed in on for a much higher fee.

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The front line is where there could be a lot of change, with Raphinha displaying inconsistent form since his €58m arrival last summer, meaning he could be sold should Barca receive an offer which recoups their outlay.

Barca also signed Franck Kessie last summer on a free transfer but the Ivorian looks set to depart after just one season and Barca could make a nice profit if they receive his value of €39.6m.

Ferran Torres is another player who could be sold due to his relatively poor output and, although his value has dropped to €40m since his €55m signing in 2022, he may command a reasonable fee due to his potential.

With Kessie and Fati the likely players to be moved on, Barca will likely raise more than €70m from those two alone and the addition of Torres or Raphinha would take them to around €110m, although they will likely receive more than the valuations for these players and thus generate a higher return.

However, a big sale will likely be required to reach the €200m mark and De Jong will be the player who could achieve the biggest outlay, meaning Barca may have to part ways with a crucial star in order to appease Tebas and La Liga’s strict conditions.