The Barcelona administration is still working hard to find solutions to sign again with Argentine Lionel Messi, whose contract with Barca expired on July 1.
Barcelona wants to obtain a surplus in the salary budget that allows it to move and maneuver during the signing of the new contract with Lionel Messi, and for this, the “Bulugrana” is ready to get rid of some of its players.
Barcelona President Joan Laporta hopes to be able to reduce the exorbitant salary budget, which, according to him, reaches 110% of the permissible limit, and therefore the Catalan club is forced to sell a number of players before completing the Messi deal.
And according to the Spanish newspaper “Mundo Deportivo”, Barcelona will try to quickly get rid of two high-paid players.
Who are the two victims of signing with Messi in Barcelona?
The first victim will be Frenchman Samuel Umtiti, who has not performed well since returning with a knee injury after playing for France at the 2018 World Cup.
Barcelona wants to cancel Umtiti’s contract, sell it, or even leave it on loan, but the matter seems very complicated, as the Frenchman extends a contract with the Catalan club until the summer of 2023, and does not want to leave the Camp Nou.
It is not excluded that Barcelona will follow with Umtiti the same way that it followed with Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal last summer, and an attempt for Dutch coach Ronald Koeman to intervene to persuade him to leave.
The second victim is the Bosnian Miralem Pjanic, and Barcelona’s position with the midfielder is quite clear, as Koeman does not want his services, and therefore he must leave, which is what the Bosnian international has already assumed.
Pjanic’s priority is to return to Juventus with his former coach Massimiliano Allegri, who shone under his leadership in the “Bianconeri”, but if the Italian club does not take a step to restore the player, it will consider other options.
Italian Inter and Paris Saint-Germain, in addition to one of the English Premier League clubs, are interested in Pjanic’s services.
Barcelona begins the pre-season period on July 12, and wants to succeed in getting rid of Umtiti or Pjanic before that date.