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Barcelona remain leaders in the race to sign Spanish midfielder who has fallen out of favour at his current club.
Barcelona are in a bit of a pickle financially and cannot register new signings until they bring their wage bill under the La Liga salary cap. Club president Joan Laporta and co. are working on Lionel Messi's contract extension and a number of other deals as well.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the top stories involving Barcelona from 2 August 2021.
Lionel Messi delays Barcelona return
According to ESPN, Lionel Messi is yet to return to Barcelona to join training. The club is waiting for him to sign his new contract. Barcelona's squad is in Germany presently and they are preparing ahead of their pre-season encounter against FC Salzburg.
Messi is technically a free-agent at the moment after his contract with Barcelona expired on June 30. ESPN had earlier reported that Messi had already agreed terms with the Catalans in principle over a 5-year deal.
Joan Laporta and co. are working hard to bring the club's wage bill under the La Liga salary cap. They cannot register their new signings and extend Messi's contract until they do that.
Barcelona looking to sell Samuel Umtiti and Miralem Pjanic
Barcelona are yet to hand Lionel Messi a fresh deal and are looking to sell both Miralem Pjanic and Samuel Umtiti to free up funds to do so. That's according to Mundo Deportivo, who claim that the Catalans are looking to accelerate the sales of the duo.
Juventus is the most likely destination for Pjanic. The Bosnian international's agent is reportedly set to meet Bianconeri sporting director Federico Cherubini to discuss terms. However, manager Allegri is not entirely convinced of the feasibility of such a deal due to Aaron Ramsey's presence in the squad.
Samuel Umtiti has finally decided to leave the Camp Nou. He is willing to leave Barcelona, preferably on loan, for a club that can offer him Champions League football or is capable of challenging for trophies.
Joan Laporta and co. are also looking to sit down with players to discuss wage cuts. They are hoping that the players will agree to it as it would help them to keep Messi at the club.
The quartet of Sergi Roberto, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba have already agreed to cut their wages down by 40%.
Barcelona favourites to sign Saul Niguez
Barcelona remain favourites to sign out-of-favour Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez, according to AS. Niguez's name has been mentioned alongside Antoine Griezmann in a swap deal involving Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
However, the clubs couldn't come to an agreement over the transfer fee involved or the wages and thus the deal collapsed. Koeman reportedly views the Atletico Madrid midfielder as a player who can improve Barcelona.
So the possibility of a deal happening hasn't died down and Barcelona are still favourites to sign him. However, they will need to sell a few players before they can rope in new ones.
