What’s the story?
Barcelona are set to sell four first-team players in the summer according to Marca. The Spanish publication claim that the board is keen on a squad overhaul this summer and are ready to make space for new signings.
Arda Turan, Andre Gomes, Javier Mascherano and Jeremy Mathieu are said to be the players on the transfer list. Luis Enrique was reportedly the one interested in keeping the players at Camp Nou, and now with the manager leaving, the future of the four players are in doubt.
In case you didn’t know...
Luis Enrique had announced on the 1st of March that he would be leaving Barcelona at the end of the 2016/17 season. The manager's contract was set to expire, and he was not interested in signing the new one offered to him.
Barcelona have been on the hunt for a new manager ever since and have now agreed a deal with one of their targets. The club are yet to reveal the name but are set to announce their new manager on May 29th. Atletico Bilbao's Ernesto Valverde is tipped to be the next Barcelona manager.
The heart of the matter
Barcelona's board believe that the club lost out on the title because their squad was not 'good enough' to compete with Real Madrid's team. They want to make sure that the new manager gets all the players he wants and are set to free up the wage bill by letting some of their players go.
Arda Turan, Andre Gomes, Javier Mascherano and Jeremy Mathieu have not been on top of their game this season, and the board has lost patience with them. Gomes was signed from Valencia just a year ago, but the player has not managed to settle in and is not going to be offered more time.
What’s next?
The Catalan side have a lot of players on their transfer wish-list and will be trying their best to sign all of them. According to reports, their top priority this summer is Marco Verratti, Joao Cancelo, Hector Bellerin, Paulo Dybala and Christen Eriksen.
Barcelona legend, Xavi has asked the club to sign Adrien Rabiot as well. The PSG star is tipped by Xavi to be the ideal replacement for Iniesta, whose contract expires at the end of next season.
Author’s Take
The four players on the transfer list are clearly not good enough for the club. None of them have made any significant contribution to the club apart from Mascherano.
It's the right time for Barcelona to refresh their squad as they will have a new manager coming in and so, he'll need a few of the players he wants signed as well.
