Sales, sales, sales. That’s Barcelona’s priority for the next transfer windows.
Sure, Philippe Coutinho stories are exciting and everything, but with wages at around 84% of income and a debt which is racing towards €300m, Barcelona need to do some housekeeping.
Catalan newspaper Sport look at the situation in their Friday edition, and have three main ‘stars’ of the selling show: Rafinha, Arda Turna, Paco Alcacer.
Southampton are the Premier League club most recently linked with Alcacer and the Spanish media are contradictory over whether that’d be a good opportunity or not. This time Southampton interest isn’t mentioned, but Lille have made contact, and if it comes down to the player’s choice then Saints will certainly feel strong in that battle.
Sport says there’s €24m left to be amortised on the books from Alcacer’s purchase, so that’s the price. But, rather handily for anyone interested, Barcelona would also accept a loan.
That would be a cake or death decision for Southampton. Do they want to gamble €24m, or take a much smaller loan gamble, but make sure they have a buying option?
No brainer.
