Asensio in, Raphina out? How Barcelona could line up next season

Stuart Telford

• 11 Mar 2023 14:35 CST
• 4 min read

Barcelona have reportedly agreed terms on a sensational swoop for Real Madrid winger Marco Asensio, with the Spaniard's arrival set to pave the way for Raphinha's exit from Camp Nou.

Asensio has grown fed up with his playing time at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Federico Valverde all enjoying more minutes on Real's flanks this season.

And now he will become the biggest player to cross the Clasico divide since Luis Figo, who made the opposite journey in 2001, having a pig's head thrown at him on his return to Camp Nou for good measure.

READ: EXCLUSIVE: Marco Asensio WILL join Barcelona, Raphinha to be sold

La Liga have told Barca to reduce their debt by €200 million ahead of next season, but with players like Ilkay Gundogan also available on a free transfer next summer, the Bluagrana could be sitting pretty, financial 'super levers' or not.

Barcelona in 2023/24?

Asensio's arrival gives Barca's final third a different look almost instantly. A left footer, the Spain international prefers lining up on the right, meaning he is likely to shunt Raphinha out of the team, and ultimately the Camp Nou exit door.

Raphinha's attacking returns have been improving of late, but a return of five La Liga goals in 23 games was not what was hoped for after his €50m arrival from Leeds last summer, and a return to the Premier League now looks more likely than ever.

READ: Barcelona ready to active €250m super lever to kickstart summer transfers

Ousmane Dembele, more ambidextrous than Asensio, is just as happy lining up on the left, and he and Robert Lewandowski are understood to be two of Barcelona's untouchable players anyway, financial crisis or not.

Behind them, things are also interesting. Barca are set to raise €250m by selling 49 per cent of Barca Licensing & Merchandising (BLM), according to Forbes, but they will need to balance the books further with player sales.

And two incumbent central midfielders could alleviate their financial dire straits considerably if they left: Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets. De Jong is wanted by Manchester United, valued at €52.2m by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, and the club's top earner on €37.5m per year before tax.

Club legend Busquets is out of contract at the end of the season, meanwhile, and although Xavi is desperate to keep him, Barca's new contract offer is unlikely to match what he can earn alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr or under David Beckham with Inter Miami.

Gundogan, available on a Bosman from Man City, would be a budget-friendly plug-in-and-play solution.

Last, but by no means least, is the curious case of Joao Cancelo. In the PFA Team of the Year as Manchester City won the Premier League in each of the last two seasons, he fell out with Pep Guardiola over his playing time this winter and joined Bayern Munich on loan.

He may have got off the mark for Bayern on Saturday, but Julian Nagelsmann has generally preferred Kingsley Coman and Alphonso Davies as his wing-backs, and the club's sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic publicly criticised Cancelo recently, saying "he hasn't been playing and training the way he had imagined."

Unlike Asensio and Gundogan, Cancelo wouldn't be available on a free, but another loan deal for the Portuguese could suit all parties, and Barca are desperate for a right-back - Dani Alves casts a long shadow at Camp Nou and Jules Kounde, doing a job in the position this season, would relish the chance to play through the middle once more.