Barcelona’s plans to generate funds by selling Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Samuel Umtiti are likely to fall apart due to the trio’s poor claims register.
Barça’s financial difficulties have been well documented in recent years and they were forced to move a number of high-profile players last summer in an attempt to reduce wage costs.
Luis Suarez, Arturo Vidal and Ivan Rakitic all left the Camp Nou for almost nothing (in relative terms anyway) but the club is still struggling to balance the books.
La Liga president Javier Tebas recently claimed that Ronald Koeman’s side risk not being able to register Lionel Messi next season – if their talisman signs a new deal, that is – if they do not reduce their salary costs and then follow the league’s salary cap.
Barça had hoped to raise money by selling a number of their high-profile players who had been considered surplus, and Dembele, Coutinho and Umtiti were for sale.
But their plans appear to have been persuaded by Sport reporting that all potential suitors for the aforementioned players are reluctant to place a bid due to their uneven injury records.
Philippe Coutinho has not played since December / Alex Caparros / Getty Images
Dembele was recently forced to withdraw from France’s Euro 2020 squad after picking up a knee injury during the second half of Didier Deschamp’s team draw with Hungary. The future will now undergo surgery, but there is no official news about how long he may be looking for.
Coutinho has been linked with a move back to the Premier League recently with both Everton and Arsenal overseeing the Brazilian. He too has suffered setbacks in recent times and has yet to make a single appearance for Barcelona this calendar year due to a knee injury.
Meanwhile, Koeman had hoped to be able to download Umtiti this summer, with the Frenchman attracting interest from Manchester United. However, it remains to be seen if they will make money on the defender given his miserable injury record lately.
