'Barcelona working on five or six signings’ - and they already have one

Robin Bairner

• 27 Mar 2023 08:15 CDT
• 3 min read

Barcelona’s transfer plans for the summer of 2023 are becoming clearer, with the Catalan side targeting a significant number of new faces at the club – and they already know at least one signing.

Mundo Deportivo reports that Barca are being flexible with their approach in the transfer market and are making changes to their transfer policy based on who is likely to be available to them.

With the sports newspaper claiming that “around half” of Barcelona’s summer arrivals in 2023 will be free agents, this is naturally rather fluid because players are agreeing new contracts with clubs on a daily basis and the number of quality players available for nothing in the summer is naturally limited.

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Barcelona have already secured their first signing of the summer transfer window, with Mundo Deportivo reporting that Inigo Martinez has chosen to join the club as a free agent in the summer.

The 31-year-old has made it clear that he wants to join Barcelona, who were close to signing him in 2022 only to move for Jules Kounde of Sevilla instead. He also had offers from Atletico Madrid, Inter and Napoli.

There are two conditions attached to his arrival, it is reported: the player’s physical condition and also Barcelona’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) difficulties, which could complicate any arrival they try to secure in the summer.

Indeed, it is the club’s financial problems that are shaping Barcelona’s transfer market, in which the prospect of signing five or six players appears a difficult one. This makes a player like Inigo Martinez particularly valuable to Barca, who have to reduce their mass salary by €200 million by the end of June.

Barcelona no longer see right-back as a priority position this summer having seen Malo Gusto of Lyon join Chelsea in January. Instead, they will target a pivot midfielder, a winger, a centre-back and a forward.