Inter Milan could save Barcelona with triple transfer raid

Stuart Telford

• 16 Apr 2023 12:56 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona need to raise €200 million ahead of next season and Inter Milan are reportedly in discussion for €60m-worth of their players…

Barca have been told by La Liga that they need to balance their books to the tune of €200m if they want to take part next season in a competition they lead Real Madrid by 13 points in this.

The club's financial dire straits have been well documented, with Ansu Fati the latest player to be placed on the transfer list by the Blaugrana, with Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur now on high alert.

READ: Barcelona transfer list Man Utd target Ansu Fati

Barca insist they want to strengthen next season, and they are reportedly working on deals to bring Lionel Messi and Ilkay Gundogan to Camp Nou on free transfers from Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City respectively.

But a fire sale is expected, with all but Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele, Gavi and Pedri safe. And now Inter are in for three more of Barca's players.

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) April 16, 2023

Inter and Barca have had talks

"Inter and Barcelona directors met in Catalunya on Friday with the Nerazzurri interested in Franck Kessie, Marcos Alonso and Samuel Umtiti," report Gazzetta dello Sport.

READ: Frenkie de Jong giving Barcelona a big problem

"Inter are interested in Kessie and open to swapping the former AC Milan and Atalanta midfielder with Marcelo Brozovic. Umtiti is one of their options to replace the departing Milan Skriniar, while Marcos Alonso would bolster Simone Inzaghi’s options on the left wing."

Talismanic centre-back Skriniar will leave on a free transfer to PSG in the summer.

Kessie, Umtiti and Alonso are valued at €40m, €11.3m and €6m respectively by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, and although the bulk of Kessie's value would be counterbalanced by Borozovic's, Barca still stand to gain nearly €50m with transfer fees and saved wages taken into account.

There is still work to be done at Barca, but Inter's interest in their players could hardly be more welcome at this moment in time.