Barcelona have told Samuel Umtiti and Miralem Pjanic that they will leave the club this summer and are prepared to download both players for free.
Club officials are tasked with drastically lowering their salaries, which have risen well above Barcelona’s allocated salary cap from La Liga, in an attempt to make it easier to renew their contract with Lionel Messi.
Matheus Fernandes has seen his contract terminated and Francisco Trincao has joined Wolves on loan with an option to buy, but Barcelona know they still have a lot of work to do to trim their budget. According to Mundo Deportivo, they are preparing to take drastic action.
The unwanted duo Umtiti and Pjanic have both been made available for transfer this summer, but since no teams are prepared to meet their huge salary demands, Barcelona are happy to let them both go free just to get them out of the book.
Pjanic, who joined from Juventus for the best part of £ 60 million in a book balancing exercise that saw Arthur Melo go the other way just 12 months ago, is open to leaving and has been linked with Inter and PSG. If he leaves for free, we may have a new challenger about the worst transfer of all time.
Pjanic may be on his way out of Barcelona / Quality Sport Images / Getty Images
On the other hand, Umtiti has rejected the chance to find a new club. He wants to stay in Barcelona and prove himself, and for the third summer in a row he does not seem to take the hint that he is no longer wanted.
Nevertheless, Barcelona are determined to finally get Umtitis’ salary out of the book and will look around the world for buyers, hoping that one of them will offer the often injured midfielder the kind of sign-up bonus he will not be able to turn down.
Their squad is expected to continue after the two players have been treated, and Barcelona are open to allowing most of their unwanted players to retire on free transfers just to free up extra money.
There are no mention of extra names, but you have to believe that someone like Philippe Coutinho ends up in this bracket.
Umtiti still struggling to stay / Quality Sport Images / Getty Images
If this is not mental enough, Barcelona are ready to threaten their players to leave the club by promising to freeze them throughout the season if they do not leave, which is hardly ideal before a World Cup.
Ousmane Dembele has been hit by that promise if he does not either sign a new deal or agree to leave, and many other players may soon be at the receiving end of this wonderful proposal.
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