Barcelona: Confirmed signings and departures in the summer transfer window

Barcelona have had one of their worst transfer windows ever this summer. Joan Laporta was elected as the club's president with the expectation that he'd be able to keep Lionel Messi while making a couple of additions to have a competitive squad.

However, the opposite happened. Plagued by an ardous financial crisis, the Blaugrana couldn't meet their objectives for the transfer window.

They were dealt a serious blow when Lionel Messi was forced to leave as they couldn't afford his wages even after reaching an agreement on a 50% pay cut.

Leo Messi: “Leaving Barcelona was so hard. But I’m so happy to join Paris Saint-Germain, ambitious club with a top team. They’ve been so fast and serious in the negotiations immediatly after Barça statement last Thursday”. 🇦🇷🇫🇷 #Messi

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 11, 2021

With a reported debt of over €1.3 billion, Barcelona simply had to forget about splashing the cash on any signing. They switched their priority to trimming down their wage bill in order to align with La Liga's wage cap and reduce their financial burden.

Gerard Pique was the first to accept a pay cut, slashing up to a massive 50% of his wages at Camp Nou. Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba followed in his footsteps by taking substantial wage reductions, allowing the Catalan giants to register their new signings for the summer.

Barcelona made a number of vital additions this summer

Although Barcelona couldn't afford to pay transfer fees, the club moved smartly by luring a couple of free agents to Camp Nou this summer. They signed Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia on free transfers from Manchester City.

Memphis Depay also arrived as a free agent from Olympic Lyon, while €9 million was paid to Real Betis to secure the services of Emerson Royal. Yusuf Demir and Luuk de Jong both arrived on loan from Rapid Wien and Sevilla respectively to provide depth until the end of the season.

Memphis Depay has hit the ground running at Camp Nou after joining Barcelona this summer

Meanwhile, apart from Lionel Messi, Barcelona parted ways with other key figures in their squad. Antoine Griezmann has returned to Atletico Madrid on a loan deal with an obligatory purchase option and Francisco Trincao also joined Wolves on similar terms.

Junior Firpo, Jean Claire Todibo, Carles Alena and Emerson Royal were sold to Leeds United, Nice, Getafe and Tottenham Hotspur respectively. The likes of Juan Miranda, Monchu and Matheus Fernandes were all offloaded without receiving a fee.

Barcelona off to a decent start in post-Messi era

Barcelona kick-started the post-Messi era with a convincing 4-2 victory over Real Sociedad in their opening La Liga game of the season.

They dropped a point against Athletic Bilbao in their second league game courtesy of a 1-1 draw but ensured they returned to winning ways by beating Getafe 2-1 last weekend.

#Barcelona continue post-#Messi era after strong start#Koeman's men beat #Sociedad 4-2 last weekend despite the shock of seeing the Argentine leave for #ParisSaintGermain

— Tribune Sports (@ETribuneSports) August 20, 2021

Ronald Koeman's men currently occupy fourth spot in the league table. The Catalan club are tied at seven points with the trio of Real Madrid, Sevilla and Valencia, who rank above them based on goal difference.

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Ins: Memphis Depay, Sergio Aguero, Yusuf Demir, Eric Garcia, Luuk de Jong (loan), Alex Collado (promoted), Inaki Pena (promoted).

Outs: Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Junior Firpo, Jean-Claire Todibo, Carles Alena, Rey Manaj (loan), Emerson Royal, Juan Miranda, Matheus Fernandes, Monchu, Francisco Trincao (loan).