And this intensive care patient has conditions. Because the league takes a very close look when Barcelona acts on the transfer market. Newcomers like Robert Lewandowski have to be registered first. This process is not a mere formality, as the example of Ferran Torres shows. In the winter, Barça wanted to register the Spaniard following his €55m move from Manchester. But Torres had to wait almost two weeks. The league said players would have to leave the club first. Barça loaned Philippe Coutinho to Aston Villa and cut his salary when defender Samuel Umtiti extended his contract. Only then was there enough room in the salary structure to register Torres.
The next puzzle follows
This summer the situation is similarly complicated. With Franck Kessié, Andreas Christensen (both free of charge) and Raphinha, three newcomers came before Lewandowski. Two weeks ago, according to the Spanish medium “Cope”, Barça could not register either Kessié or Christensen.
According to media reports, Christensen signed for a net annual salary of six million euros, Kessié even for 6.5. Barcelona had to make room for this and have since lost Clément Lenglet (Tottenham), Rey Manaj (Watford), Trincão (Sporting) and Moussa Wagué (HNK Gorica). But here, too, appearances are somewhat deceptive. Manaj and Wagué don’t make much of a difference with their small salaries, neither having been part of the professional squad. And according to journalist Gerard Romero, Tottenham only pay seven of Lenglet’s gross annual salary of twelve million euros. Trincão was also not a top earner.
With “returnee” Ousmane Dembélé (his contract had expired in the meantime), Raphinha and Lewandowski, there were even more players who were not yet on the payroll as of July 1st. And Lewandowski is not easy to balance with his nine million euros net. So there are still a few departures to come before the league allows the Polish striker.
The list of candidates
It is all the more surprising that Barça, despite “intensive care” and problems with registration, still got Raphinha and Lewandowski for a total of over 100 million euros. Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann therefore said on Tuesday: “Barcelona is the only club in the world that has no money but buys every player.”
One thing is clear: Barça urgently needs departures. And the list of candidates is long. Substitute goalkeeper Neto, central defender Samuel Umtiti and attackers Memphis Depay and Martin Braithwaite are all set to leave, according to media reports. Miralem Pjanic (midfield) also has no prospects in Barcelona. And at the top of the list is Frenkie de Jong, for whom there is also an interested party in Manchester United who is willing to pay the equivalent of around 80 million euros. But: De Jong has no interest in leaving Barcelona.