Barcelona have problems. Not Everton size or shape problems, but problems nonetheless.
The Catalan club’s wage bill is 84% of turnover, which isn’t sustainable and needs to come down to make way for others, and to help Barcelona with their long term transfer planning.
That’s where the January sales come in, and, as reported by Sport in their Friday edition, the club’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu has made it clear that several fringe players need to go.
Former Everton player Gerard Deulofeu is on the list of players who would very much be for sale. With 12 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona this season, the player’s switch from Everton hasn’t been a disaster, but Sport reckon he’s on the exit ramp anyway.
There’s a market in Italy for Deulofeu, explain the Catalan newspaper, and that was the case when he left Everton, after a good loan period with AC Milan.
This could all send a boost back to Goodison Park, with former Everton manager Roberto Martinez explaining the clause back in 2015: “If they take him back they can’t sell him for a season, so he has to stay in the first-team squad for a season. At the end of that if they decide to sell him we have got first rights of getting him back or we have got a big percentage of that deal. There is nothing we can do if they activate it. That was the deal and the only way we could access the player in the terms that we wanted. I’m delighted with the deal.”
So, Barcelona need Everton’s permission to set that clause aside and allow a January sale. Even then, assuming Everton wouldn’t try to sign Deulofeu back, the club are entitled to a ‘big percentage’ of the deal.
