- Barcelona linked with likes of Griezmann, Coutinho next year
- Catalan giants could be forced to sell players to fund moves
- Defender also needed as Valverde is desperately short in that department
- READ MORE: Manchester United boost as Antoine Griezmann Barcelona transfer may be blocked
Barcelona have been heavily linked with some marquee signings in recent months, and it may take trimming the squad to put together the money to sign them.
As per The Guardian, their €100m pursuit of Antoine Griezmann could get complicated after Atletico Madrid reported them to FIFA for an illegal approach to sign the Frenchman.
Nevertheless, he remains a top target for now, while Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho was also the subject of three bids this past summer which saw him emerge as a €100m+ target, as reported by BBC Sport.
One area of Ernesto Valverde’s squad that has to be addressed is the defence, with Samuel Umtiti’s injury now set to really test their quality and depth while Javier Mascherano and Thomas Vermaelen don’t particularly offer too much assurance given their age and injury history respectively.
As per Sport, Colombian Yerry Mina could be the defender to fill the gap looking at the long-term future too, and so that’s three potential signings already that the Catalan giants will need to make to ensure that they remain in the hunt for major honours this season and beyond.
While the expectation is that either Griezmann or Coutinho will arrive rather than both, that’s still a lot of money to be spent. In turn, The Express believe that there could be an eight-man exodus to not only fund the spending spree but also to make space in the squad for those possible incoming star individuals to make their mark.
Mascherano, Vermaelen, Paco Alcacer, Sergi Roberto, Aleix Vidal, Arda Turan, Denis Suarez and Rafinha are the men tipped to make way, and in truth, it’s difficult to make an argument against any of them leaving.
None of the players mentioned above have been able to establish themselves in the team and have instead been forced to accept fringe roles. In turn, Barcelona will have to weigh up the positives of having that depth in the squad to cover various positions with an ability to go out and sign a world-class player that can make the difference.
It’s a difficult balance to strike, but they’ll have to find one if they want to maintain their high levels of success in the coming years.