Barcelona plan EIGHT sales worth nearly €200m

Robin Bairner

• 10 Jul 2023 08:58 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona are planning to clear their squad of their deadwood this summer and are targeting eight players to leave the club before the end of the transfer window.

The Camp Nou side’s financial problems are well documented and it is hoped that by shedding these players they could raise nearly €200 million that would go a long way to easing their economic concerns and make it easier to attract top stars in future transfer windows.

Earlier this summer, Barca had pushed for Lionel Messi to return to the club, but after they failed to give him the guarantees that his signing would be ratified by La Liga, he elected to head to MLS, where he will hook up with Inter Miami.

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According to AS, Barcelona’s exit list will be headlined by Franck Kessie, Ferran Torres and Eric Garcia.

All three are recent additions to the squad, though only Ferran arrived for a transfer fee. He joined in January 2022 from Manchester City for €60m and now has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €40m – the highest of the eight players Barca are trying to offload.

While the Spain winger may leave Camp Nou at a loss, Eric Garcia and Kessie, who arrived on free transfers last summer, have ETVs of €31.2m and €39.3m respectively, meaning they will leave at a huge profit.

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Equally, Barcelona are seeking to sell Sergino Dest and Clement Lenglet, who were on loan last term at Milan and Tottenham respectively. Dest’s ETV is €20m while Lenglet could command a fee of €21.7m.

On top of these more established players, La Masia graduates Alex Collado, Pablo Torre and Nico Gonzalez could all leave the club but are only expected to raise around €10m for the cause.

Barcelona’s 2023/24 transfers

Barcelona have been slow to act this summer, with their major deals done only on the free transfer market because of their financial concerns.

Ilkay Gundogan and Inigo Martinez have joined from Manchester City and Athletic Club, while youngster Mikayil Faye has been signed for the ‘B’ team for €1.5m.

Leaving the club so far have been Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Samuel Umtiti, as well as Francisco Trincao, whose move to Sporting CP has been made permanent for €7m.

Vitor Roque, though, is expected to complete a €60m move to Barcelona imminently.