Barcelona ready to 'go to war' with star they want out
FT Desk
- 17 Aug 2022 13:31 BST
- 3 min read
Barcelona still need to balance their books despite registering new signings like Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha this summer, but some players are making it easier for them than others...
Barca have activated four "financial levers" - the sale of future revenues set against liquid capital now - and all but Jules Kounde were registered in time to make their La Liga debuts against Rayo Vallecano last weekend.
Lewandowski, Raphinha, Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie were each given minutes for Saturday's goalless draw at Camp Nou, but there was no place in the squad at all for Martin Braithwaite, who joined under emergency dispensation in February 2020.
Martin Braithwaite booed by Barcelona fans 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/jgd5nG4pdd
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) August 9, 2022
Denmark striker Braithwaite now has Lewandowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Memphis Depay ahead of him in the Camp Nou pecking order, even if the latter two are nearing moves to Chelsea and Juventus.
Braithwaite, alongside Samuel Umtiti, Oscar Mingueza and Neto, has been told he can leave the club under freedom of contract, but it appears the 31-year-old has no intention of cutting short a deal which still has two years to run.
'Uncompromising'
"The club are beginning to realise there will be no negotiations about a possible exit and they are going to end up losing money due to the player and his agent's uncompromising posture," writes Sport journalist Luis Miguelsanz.
"Barca's plan was to transfer Braithwaite or to at least loan him out because there were some interesting options on the market. But he has preferred to dismiss all the possible operations...
"It is likely the club wait until the end of the window and end up rescinding his contract unilaterally unless he finally decides to accept the offer to leave for free."
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Off the field, Braithwaite is married to French entrepreneur Anne-Laure Louis and is the wealthiest player on Barcelona's books owing to his real estate interests.
The Dane has only scored 10 goals in 58 games since his €18m arrival from Leganes two-and-half years ago, but his business acumen off the pitch dwarfs his performances on it, and Barca might have a real fight on their hands.
