Barcelona 'activate Plan B' after Messi rejection

Tom Weber

• Updated: 8 Jun 2023 17:00 BST
• 3 min read

Lionel Messi's intention of signing for Inter Miami has forced Barcelona to 'activate Plan B.'

The Blaugrana had hitherto focused all their efforts on bringing the Argentine World Cup winner back to the Camp Nou, but the club's uncertain economic situation and the memories of his first painful exit made Messi decide against waiting for his former club to submit an official proposal.

This could actually be a blessing in disguise for Barcelona. To be sure, they are losing out on a lot of potential commercial revenue, with the club believing that bringing Messi back would have solved many of their financial problems, but it would also have entailed a massive commitment in the short term.

Now, they don't have to worry about breaking their squad just in order to sign one player. That is not to say that sacrifices won't have to be made, however. Though LaLiga has reportedly accepted Barcelona's financial viability plan now, they will likely still not be able to go on a massive spending spree.

READ: Inter Miami line up World Cup winners to join Messi

Nevertheless, they have a lot more room to manoeuvre without having to worry about how to afford Messi.

Plan B

According to SPORT, Barcelona's 'Plan B' essentially just means addressing the most obvious issues on the current roster, chief among them being the gaping hole left by the departure of club legend Sergio Busquets.

Bayern's Joshua Kimmich and Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi are two names that have been floated as potential targets, but the Blaugrana hierarchy knows that completing deals for these two will prove difficult. Instead, the full focus is on securing the free transfer of Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan now to add to the midfield.

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Moreover, Barcelona will once again be in the market for a right-back, budget permitting. Benjamin Pavard, Joao Cancelo, Vanderson and Juan Foyth are long-time targets, but all of them are under contract for at least another season, so they will command sizeable fees as well as wages.