In some ways it would make sense for Gini Wijnaldum to move on following the arrival of Thiago Alcantara, but it’s starting to look like the proposed move to Barcelona won’t be allowed to happen.
This was reported by The Mirror who suggested that Barca have “been banned” from signing the Dutch star, but it actually looks like it’s due to a set of financial restrictions in place in La Liga.
It actually sounds fair enough, with the report suggesting that they would need to sell players first to raise the funds to sign him, but they would also need to pay the same amount to the Spanish government to make this happen.
That’s because the club were given financial help during the coronavirus shutdown to help them with a giant wage bill, and they can’t have any complaints.
It actually sounds like a fairer system than what we have in the UK. We’ve seen numerous clubs make cuts or place staff on furlough only to then spend millions on transfer fees a few months afterwards, which is highly questionable on moral grounds.
There’s no sign that Barca are going to sell players soon to raise these funds and it doesn’t look like there’s any other interest in Wijnaldum, so surely he’ll be staying put until January at least.