Xavi’s Barca prepared to sell all but seven “untouchable” players
La Liga giants Barcelona are reportedly (via Sport) preparing for a mega purge in the summer transfer window to get back to their glory days. With the exception of seven players who are considered to be ‘untouchables’, the club are prepared to entertain suitable offers for all.
Barcelona have not enjoyed the best of campaigns in 2021-22. They couldn’t play effective and engaging football under Ronald Koeman at the start of the season, allowing Real Madrid to pull ahead in La Liga. Club legend Xavi took charge in December, but could not keep Barca from being knocked out of the Champions League and then the Spanish Super Cup.
Eventually, the former midfielder steadied the ship and took the Blaugrana on an impressive unbeaten run. Over the last couple of weeks, however, the chinks in Barcelona’s armor have begun to reappear. They were first knocked out of the Europa League quarter-finals by Eintracht Frankfurt and then endured consecutive home defeats in La Liga to Cadiz and Rayo Vallecano.
As per Sport’s report, the club are disappointed with the recent turn of events and believe a complete overhaul is needed in the summer. President Joan Laporta, who sold 14 players and bought 11 in his first year in charge back in 2004, believes a similar ‘revolution’ is required.
Barring seven young players, Barca are open to selling the rest of their squad. The chosen seven are Pedri, Ansu Fati, Ronald Araujo, Ferran Torres, Eric Garcia, Gavi, and Nico Gonzalez. Xavi’s side believe these players have all it takes to lead the club to a brighter future.
Barcelona have plans to deal with financial issues
If the Blaugrana go through with their plan to sell a big chunk of their players, they will look to sign better, more capable alternatives. However, given the inflated state of the market, signing top talents is set to take a toll on Barcelona’s finance.
To deal with that, Barca are considering a three-fold plan. First, they are considering giving 8.2 percent of their audiovisual rights to the CVC (via Barca Universal), which would make them € 16million per year for 50 years. Then they will look to sell a 49 percent stake in Barca Studios. Finally, the Catalans will also look to boost revenues through Barca Licensing and Merchandising (BLM).
All three revenue streams, combined with player sales, should give the Blaugrana a big enough kitty to lure in some big names this summer.
