The summer of transfer madness continues at the Camp Nou with just three days to go before the new La Liga campaign begins.
The action starts when Sevilla visit Osasuna for the curtain-raiser on Friday night, and Barcelona get their season underway 24 hours later at home to Rayo Vallecano. But while the Blaugrana work on the training pitch to get ready for action, the chaos continues in the boardroom and among the club’s accountants.
The latest La Liga 2022 betting odds here at SBOTOP showed Barca closing in on Real Madrid following the signings of Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha and a pre-season El Clasico win.
But the off-field drama won’t be helping Xavi to prepare his team.
Barcelona can still not register their summer signings after the league refused the club permission to use its own funds to inflate asset sales they have used to balance the books. Now, the Catalans are planning to sell 25-per cent of their media production company Barca Studios so that it can register Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, and co. in time for the clash with Rayo Vallecano.
As well as selling non-playing assets, Barcelona have flung the exit door wide open in the hope they can push a few of their big earners through, notably Frenkie de Jong. The club is putting pressure on the Dutchman by threatening to annul his contract, claiming that there was criminality relating to the terms agreed by the previous board.
It’s all turning into a soap opera and experienced centre-back Gerard Pique has added more pressure to de Jong after he took a huge paycut to help the club. But the midfielder, wanted by Manchester United and now watched by Chelsea, is holding out for full repayment of wages deferred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The previous board led by Josep Bartomeu insist they did nothing wrong in the deal and the sorry situation looks likely to rumble on.
Barca are looking elsewhere to move some high earners on and the club has announced it is prepared to sell one of last season’s top scorers in either Memphis Depay or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who arrived in the January transfer window.
I suspect it is more likely that Depay will be the man to go as former Arsenal player Aubameyang was sensational during Barca’s second half of the season revival and Xavi will be keen to see him link up with Lewandowski and Raphinha.
Depay’s No. 9 shirt has already been handed to Lewandowski, a heavy hint to this Dutchman where he stands in the pecking order.
Barcelona need to move some players on to bring new faces in and one Blaugrana imminently on his way is 20-year-old midfielder Nico Gonzalez, who the club have agreed to loan to Valencia.
Gonzalez is a player who can make some special La Liga 2022 highlights and Los Che will be delighted to get him on board.
At the start of the campaign, it looked like he was in Xavi’s plans after he burst onto the scene in the 2021/22 campaign. He’s been heavily involved in pre-season and is one of the most talented midfield players to emerge in La Liga in recent years, but Xavi now feels the time is right to give him some loan experience and he is likely to get a full season under his belt at the Mestalla.
It’s a deal which works well for Valencia head boss Gennaro Gattuso who has recently admitted the club’s pursuit of Juventus star Arthur Melo is as good as over. It hasn’t worked out for Arthur at Juventus and the Turin giants are keen to offload the Brazilian but Valencia can’t afford his wages and so the deal has collapsed.
Arthur’s big salary means it’s been difficult for the Old Lady to move him on, not a problem excusive to I Bianconeri as we know. But the fat salary has put off potential suitors and the Serie A club has received precious few enquiries.
Gattuso, who has just signed a two-year deal to manage Valencia, knows he is expected to improve on last season’s ninth place finish. But he has to spend wisely, saying: “He has a salary that is absolutely out of our reach. We can not afford it. This is the truth.”
Arthur is blocking a space in the Old Lady’s squad but his recent form has been distinctly underwhelming and Gattuso might well have got a much better deal with the loan of the young Barca player.
Valencia open their season on Sunday with a home game against Girona. The Mestalla Stadium will be bouncing as ever, full of anticipation, and they may get to see a new star in Gonzalez.
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