Mercato | Mercato – Barcelona: Arrivals, departures … Xavi has mapped out his roadmap for the winter!

Posted on December 23, 2021 at 8:30 p.m. by Dan Marciano

FC Barcelona are obliged to sell if they wish to welcome Ferran Torres, but also a striker who could be Edinson Cavani.

Held in check by Sevilla FC Last Tuesday (1-1), FC Barcelona is 18 points behind the leader, Real Madrid , in the league. Distanced in La Liga and eliminated from the Champions League, the Catalan club will try to strengthen itself during the next winter transfer window in order to end the season well and perform in the Europa League. Despite its serious financial difficulties, FC Barcelona is on the verge of closing a 55M € case. As the Spanish press reported on Wednesday, the Blaugrana side are said to be very close to reaching an agreement with Manchester City for the transfer of Ferran Torres . “It’s not officially done yet. I know they are negotiating. It's close, that's all. It will be done when the club announces it “blurted out Pep Guardiola at a press conference. The Spain international is unlikely to be the only Catalan signing as ’Edinson Cavani (Manchester United) could also land in the coming days. But in order to complete the arrival of the two recruits and incorporate Nico Gonzalez and Gavi in the first team, FC Barcelona will have to downsize their squad.

Xavi will be sweeping up

In order to respect the rules established on the subject of the wage bill and financial fair play, FC Barcelona will have to part with several elements as indicated by the journalist from Eurosport < strong> Felix Martin : “Barça are planning to get rid of many players in this winter transfer window: Lenglet, Coutinho, Sergiño Dest or even Ter Stegen are some of the names that Xavi would be willing to sell if they received interesting offers”. According to Mundo Deportivo, Coutinho and Dest could land in the Premier League. The first to Tottenham , the second to Manchester City. On loan from Sevilla FC until the end of the season, Luuk de Jong would also have a good chance of leaving and would have touches in the Netherlands and Turkey. Also arriving during the last summer transfer window, Yusuf Demir could take charge of the Bundesliga. As for Samuel Umtiti, Benfica would have checked his name. Thanks to these sales, FC Barcelona hopes to raise tens of millions of euros. But no way for the Catalan club to splurge.

Barça will not splurge

The first winter recruit of FC Barcelona should therefore be Ferran Torres . “We were all surprised that Barca were ready to pay more than € 50million for Torres. We all thought they didn't have enough money. I guess they will pay the first part of this transfer, then pay the rest in installments ”confided Felix Martin . However, there is no question for the Catalan club to splurge especially if they fail to sell. “The winter transfer window? There are a lot of things to do, but immediately we have to deal with “fair play” (financial). We need to complete departures before we can recruit. We know very well which players we want, but first we have to respect financial fair play ”confided Mateu Alemany , director of football of FC Barcelona . However, the Catalan side could show some ingenuity in closing the rally. ” Spending ? That's a big no! If they did, it would be a huge surprise. This winter Barca plan a big transfer – which in this case appears to be Torres – and then try to swap some players with other clubs. There are also rumors that Barca are interested in sending Coutinho to Arsenal for Aubameyang, “said the Eurosport reporter. The group of Xavi should not have the same face at the end of the winter transfer window.