Barcelona prospective presidential candidate Victor Font has revealed the true extent of the club’s financial crisis – and Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal could help them out. The La Liga side will not meet Financial Fair Play regulations unless they cut costs by £90million.
Work is already going on behind the scenes to delay or amend some of their expenditures.
However, they will still need to complete £72m of player sales before July 1 – which could force them into selling stars at below their market value.
Barcelona are currently without a president after Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned last year.
A new chief will be elected later this month and Font is hoping to be the man who is handed full control of the club.
If he is, there will be a quickfire sale of stars as the Catalan outfit are in dire need of funds.
“Our shock plan is based on a budget with €100m of losses,” Font told ESPN Deportes.
“We have already had conversations with strategic partners to restructure expenses. Sell players before June 30 for a value of €80m.”
Not many clubs in Europe had the cash to spend big last summer because of the coronavirus.
However, some Premier League clubs – especially Chelsea – tried to take advantage of the situation.
United, Liverpool and Arsenal are still in the market for reinforcements and have been linked with Barcelona players over recent months.
There may never be a better time than now to make an enquiry to the Catalan club to see if they can strike a bargain.
It is unlikely Barca will let any of their top stars leave so United should think again before checking on Ansu Fati’s availability after they were linked last summer.
But one player who might be permitted to leave the Nou Camp for much less than he arrived is Ousmane Dembele.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is still looking for a right winger after missing out on Jadon Sancho.
Arsenal are also short of wide men, particularly with Willian flopping since his move from Chelsea.
Dembele played alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Borussia Dortmund and he could be the key to unlocking the striker’s best form after he went off the boil.
Meanwhile, Liverpool face the risk of losing Mohamed Salah to Real Madrid and Dembele may be the ideal replacement.
There are other fringe players which the three Premier League clubs could take a look at.
United and Liverpool need a centre-back and Samuel Umtiti has not started a match this season, while Arsenal desperately require a playmaker and Philippe Coutinho has only been on the periphery of the Barca team.
