Barcelona are prepared to
see up to eight players leave the club this summer as part of a ruthless
overhaul of their first-team squad.
The
Catalan giants are prepared to cut their losses on major stars such as
Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann, while former Middlesbrough
striker Martin Braithwaite is also in line for what would be quite a
merciless axe after only joining the club in January and making three
appearances to date.
According to Spanish publication
Sport on Wednesday, Barca chiefs want to rebuild the first team in order
to usher in a new era of success both domestically and across the
continent.
‘Obliged to sell,’ reads the headline, alongside the pictures of the eight players who are set to depart.
As
well as Griezmann, Coutinho and Braithwaite, Ivan Rakitic is also
reportedly set to leave along with fellow midfielders Arturo Vidal and
Carles Alena, who has spent the season on loan at Real Betis.
Defender Samuel Umtiti will also depart along with backup goalkeeper Neto.
Coutinho,
whose signing from Liverpool in January 2018 represented such a massive
coup for Barca, has spent the season on loan at Bayern Munich and has
made 32 appearances, scoring six times.
His availability
will spark interest from teams across Europe but Barcelona will no doubt
have to lower their asking price and accept a loss on the player they
splashed out £145m on.
The
same applies to Griezmann. After long-held interest, Barcelona payed
£108m to bring him in from LaLiga rivals Atletico last year but the
France international has struggled to gel with a disjointed Barcelona
frontline.
He turned 29 on Saturday and Barcelona will not
be able to reclaim anything like what they paid for him. Griezmann’s
return of 14 goals in 37 games is underwhelming given his huge transfer
fee.
Rakitic has long been tipped with a Barca exit, with
Manchester United, Chelsea and Inter Milan all linked with a move, and
it appears the curtain will finally fall on his Nou Camp career this
summer. A return to Sevilla has also been mooted.
Samuel
Umititi has also been linked with a move to United and Chelsea and it
appears the France World Cup winner will be available this summer.
Barcelona are two points clear of Real Madrid in the paused La Liga season due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
They
have not had the most straightforward season, though, with manager
Ernesto Valverde sacked in January following a defeat by Atletico Madrid
in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final.
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