For well over a year it’s been reported in the Catalan sport media that Barcelona really needs to shed the fat. A bloated squad means a bloated wage bill and with so much of the income going to the biggest stars, there’s not really room for passengers.
Arda Turan was shipped out but Barcelona didn’t really have the big sales they wanted, and now all eyes turn to the summer.
Marca have had a look at the situation, and pinpointed some players with uncertain futures.
First up is Aleix Vidal. The Catalan has shown a repeated ability to bounce back, but a bad performance against Las Palmas means Ernesto Valverde hasn’t picked him since. And Marca believe there’s a message in that.
Yerry Mina has bounced into Barcelona like Tigger but hasn’t really impressed the club enough. There’s doubts around the Colombian defender, but ‘in principle’ Barcelona will keep him, which makes it sound like there’s the possibility of an exit if a good offer comes in.
Lucas Digne is another who has failed to impress, and Marca sound less hopeful about his chances of staying. ‘If an offer arrives’ he can go.
And then, once again, like all articles about possible Barcelona sales, we come around to Andre Gomes.
It’s believed there’s still a big market in Europe for the player, but the Spanish press have been saying this for a year and there doesn’t seem to have been any concrete moves.
Barcelona expect an offer, they’ll probably be unpleasantly surprised at how low it’ll be.
