FC Barcelona intends to carry out a “broad restructuring of the first team”, as reported in the statement in which it was reported about the dismissal of Quique Setién. A restructuring in which the departure of some ‘heavyweights’ is planned due to the fact of being veterans and not being able to give the level that they could give long ago.
However, The big problem for FC Barcelona is that they all have contracts in force with very high chips which they would have to give up to leave. Few teams could afford to keep the contract to these players, so the difficulties that the club will have to be able to leave them will be evident. Next, we analyze the contracts of the ‘heavyweights’ that the club wants to exit.
The contracts of the ‘sacred cows’ that could come out
- Luis Suarez: His salary is 15 million euros, he has a contract until 2021 and will automatically renew until 2022 if he plays a certain number of games. The 33-year-old Uruguayan has the third highest salary in the squad – after Leo Messi and Antoine Griezmann – and is one of the players who has dropped the most, either due to injuries or irregularities. One of the most noted ‘heavyweights’, although he does not seem to have the intention of leaving or a clear relay in the position of ‘9’.
- Sergio Busquets: He has a contract until 2023 and earns 9.3 million euros net per season. At 32, he has also made it clear that he is far from his best version and that he is overcome when the opponent is powerful. As a club legend and player who feels the colors, he is expected to decide to step aside to make way for players who can give more, such as Frenkie de Jong or Miralem Pjanic. Even if he stayed as a substitute, his salary would be a problem.
- Gerard Piqué: He earns 8.5 million net and has a contract until 2022. At 33, he made an exercise of self-criticism and good sense after the humiliation of Lisbon against Bayern Munich, offering to leave if the club so decided. The problem is that, although he is no longer at his maximum level, the Catalan has been the defender who has given the best performance this season. If FC Barcelona dispenses with him, the remedy could be worse than the disease.
- Arturo vidal: He charges 8.5 million euros net per season and ends his contract in 2021. At 33 years old, getting rid of his card would be a relief and the positive part is that he probably would not put too many problems to do so. The club will not get too much money for him if he sells it, but it will save 8.5 million euros in the year that remains, reduce the salary mass and make room for players with greater projection.
- Ivan Rakitic: He charges 7.8 million per season and his contract expires in 2021. Like Arturo Vidal, he is one of the clearest exits. His annual record is high, his role is as a substitute and his position will be covered by Miralem Pjanic. He has one season left on his contract and FC Barcelona would like to get some benefit from his departure, although it will be complicated, since the clubs know that the Catalans want to get rid of him and will not offer much. Sevilla could be the main option.
- Jordi Alba: He charges 5.2 million euros and his contract runs … until 2024! Nice business did Josep Maria Bartomeu yielding to the whims of L’Hospitalet when he recently renovated it. At 31, he has become a player who has completed his cycle and who clearly no longer has a place in the team, although his departure seems complicated because he still has four seasons left on his contract and it will be difficult for him to renounce them.
- Samuel Umtiti: He earns almost 8 million euros per year and ends his contract in 2023. It is perhaps the most difficult case to cover since, at 26, he seems more like a retired player than a professional. He did not want to have surgery when the doctors recommended it and now he has injury after injury. When he plays, he is a very sad shadow of what he became. Now, no one will pay an acceptable transfer price or his millionaire salary to have you in the infirmary.
New opportunity for Dembélé, Coutinho …
There are players of the template how can they be Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho that, although they charge a millionaire and that so far they have not excelled, they can still give a good performance in the team if you have patience with them. If a good offer arrives, it will be studied, but its departure is not a matter of status as explained above. The same thing happens with Junior Firpo, Nélson Semedo The grandchild.
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