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A month ago, Barcelona were tipped for the treble and an all Cruyff final, i.e, Barcelona vs Ajax was dreamt of. But a humiliating 4-0 defeat in the second leg of Champions League semi-final vs Liverpool and a 2-1 loss to Valencia to the Copa del Rey final meant Barcelona ended the season with just the La Liga title when for the entirety of the season they were the fore-runners in all 3 competitions.
Hence, the Champions League elimination and Copa del Rey disgrace have brought about a chain of events that even the Barcelona board has struggled to deal with. There are serious doubts over the future of a number of players. There are also doubts whether, Ernesto Valverde, will continue or not. Also, a number of players have been linked with the club in recent weeks who are tipped to join, in the coming weeks.
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This has led to a complex summer transfer opera for the club. We look at the events that have caused it.
#4 Neymar-Dembele swap
According to Catalan media, Barcelona and PSG are going to begin talks for the return of Neymar to the club. It also states that Dembele will be a part of the deal which will also involve a fee in the region of €120 million. Still, the Catalan media have had its hits and miss when it comes to transfer rumours and can't be relied upon.
But, a few days earlier, Esporte Interativo came in stating that Neymar believes that his PSG departure this summer is on the cards. The source suggests that there is a 'very real possibility' that the forward will return to Barcelona.
It also stated some big points, the positive and negatives. Apparently, the player still believes that the club owes him €26 million as his loyalty bonus which the club are reluctant to pay. The player is also likely to ask for a salary of around €30 million which the club obviously cannot afford. Also, the core players of the team want to see the player back at the club and fully back the move. What's more, this news comes from Marcelo Bechler, a journalist who first reported about Neymar's future transfer to PSG in 2017.
Gerard Romero, a highly reliable source for Barcelona-related information, has also reported the club have been in talks with PSG over a potential Dembele for Neymar swap deal.
Daily Record's Duncan Castles also suggested that Philippe Coutinho could also become part of the deal. It must be noted both Dembele and Coutinho have been PSG's targets before joining Barcelona.
#3 Antoine Greizmann
Last season, Antoine Griezmann was about to join Barcelona only for him to release the 'The Decision' video and announce his stay at Atletico Madrid. But after his team crashed out of the Champions League, reports from France suggested Barcelona might be back for the forward in the summer again. A month later, Atletico Madrid posted a video in which Griezmann stated his decision to leave the club in the summer with Barcelona as the fore-runners.
Since then, nothing much has happened. The Catalan media has suggested that Griezmann to Barcelona is 50-50. There are apparently 3 main reasons for this. The first one is obviously the dressing room. The core group didn't like that Griezmann rejected the club's offer last summer and the board knows if the player is eventually brought it could making the dressing room atmosphere negative. Also, the forward will cost €120 million which is very high for a 28-year-old even in this inflated market. Again, the player is reported to earn around €17 million per year making him one of the highest paid players of the squad. The wage bill already accounts for nearly 85% of the clubs income and they logically can't really afford him.
Cadena SER (a radio station in Barcelona), a highly reliable source for Barcelona-related information, reported that Antoine Griezmann and Barcelona reached an agreement in March 2019 already. But now have backtracked in recent weeks due to the reasons stated above.
Griezmann has already announced that he will be leaving Atletico in the summer and his club knows there is no back-tracking. PSG can't afford him due to Financial Fair Play rules and Manchester City have already ruled themselves out of the transfer. This leaves Barcelona as the only club interested in the player and could be a tactic by the club to reduce the asking price for the player.
#2 De Ligt
When Barcelona secured Frenkie de Jong's signature in the spring, club president Bartomeu was asked about Matthijs de Ligt on which he said that the defender is a fantastic player but is not on the club's radar at the moment. A few months later, after Ajax's run in the Champions League which was led by their mercurial 19-year-old captain prompted Barcelona to re-evaluate their stance for the player and they decided to go in for the player. Given the rich ties the club share between them, the transfer was considered straight forward. De Ligt too was excited to join Barcelona.
Earlier, various reports even suggested that Barcelona and the player had reached an agreement. However, the talks were postponed until later, as the Dutch centre-back decided to focus on his team's Champions League semi-final tie against Tottenham. Since then, the player's market value raised just as his personal demands. Mino Raiola, De Ligt's agent, has reportedly asked Barcelona to improve his personal deal as he wants to receive more money as compensation for the transfer.
The club's wage bill already accounts for nearly 85% of the clubs income (way above the 75% recommended mark) and the board has decided against raising their offer and believe their initial offer is respectable enough. This has prompted clubs like Manchester United and PSG to enter the race for the teenager's signature. Both clubs have unparallel riches and won't hesitate to lash out money.
But reports from England suggest that Ed Woodward, Manchester United's chairman, is unsure over the move as he wants to prevent Raiola from strengthening his influence at United's dressing room (Raiola already has his client Pogba at Manchester United) and PSG will first need to sell before buying due to Financial Fair Play rules irrespective they have cash to spend or not. This means Barcelona still have a strong foothold over the transfer and these reports might also be a move from Raiola himself to get a better deal for his client from the club.
#1 Ernesto Valverde
When Barcelona bottled a 3-goal lead vs Liverpool, Valverde suffered a huge backlash from the local media and the fans. But the club came out for the manager's support with both the dressing room and the Barcelona board supporting him to continue and stating his success in La Liga as a major point. But a week later, the club lost 2-1 to Valencia in the Copa Del Rey final and there was no hiding for the manager. He was criticized by pundits and fans alike for being tactical outclassed by Marcelino, the Valencia manager in the final.
The morning after the loss in the final, almost everyone from Sports, Mundo Deportivo, CatRadio, Cadena SER to individuals like Gerard Romero and Samuel Marsden, all highly reliable source for Barcelona-related information, stated that the manager will be sacked in the coming hours and will be replaced by the Belgian National Team manager Roberto Martinez only later to realize that it was a rumour spread by one of the club's director to put pressure on the club's president Bartomeu to sack Valverde. The reality is almost everyone wants Valverde to leave the club except Bartomeu and the dressing room who apparently have faith in the manager to turn things around next season.
What is more damning is that the club members believe Martinez as an ideal Valverde's replacement when he has been criticized as a manager who lacks tactical flexibility and has a poor defensive record and not someone like Quique Setien who is a Cruyffist and whose tactics would suit the club's brand of football.
Whatever might be the outcome of this summer's transfer window, one thing is for sure, it is not going to be an easy summer for the fans and the club alike.
