The renewal of Messi’s contract is the most important thing that Laporta seeks to end as soon as possible. But the continuity of the Argentine flea is facing many difficulties such as treasury issues, delayed payments, the search for a strong sporting project, and a cut in the salaries of the team’s players.
This is where the president and Matteo Alemani are working hard to get rid of players the coach does not want.
On Sunday, it was announced that Trinkau had moved to Wolverhampton. Barcelona did not get income from this deal, but it would benefit from the cancellation of at least one salary from the first team salaries.
The signing of Junior Firpo by Leeds United will also be announced soon. Here Barcelona will receive a fee, which will be about 15 million, and the defender’s salary will also be provided.
However, these two salaries are not the most worrying for the club. For this reason, the sports administration offered the letter of freedom to Pjanic and Umtiti, whose salaries range from 16 to 18 million euros.
This is actually a significant reduction in the wage bill. At the moment, both have rejected the offer, but they will leave Barcelona this summer with nearly €35m saved from the salary block.
Barcelona will not stop there. To make room for Messi and fit his new contract, more victims must be eliminated. One of them is Coutinho. The release of the Brazilian will save about 50 million from the salary block and the rest of Liverpool’s variable dues.
His departure is key, but it will be necessary to find out if any team is interested in buying him or if his departure will be in the form of a loan.
There are other players who can also leave the club, but their salaries are no longer very high. Braithwaite, Alenia and Linglet could have all been out, but the club’s savings wouldn’t be too great.
One operation that will save a lot of money is the departure of Antoine Griezmann. He is getting a very high salary to which we must add a depreciation of 24 million. You have to make way for Messi, but it’s not easy.