Club must free up space on their wage bill to register new signings; Joan Garcia and Nico Williams expected to join this summer
La Liga champions Barcelona are preparing to sell up to seven players this summer in a bid to register new signings Joan Garcia and top target Nico Williams.
Garcia is expected to make the switch from Espanyol, while a deal for Athletic Club winger Nico Williams is reportedly edging closer. However, due to ongoing financial limitations and strict La Liga registration rules, the Catalan club must free up space on their wage bill before officially adding either player to the squad.
Barcelona have been in financial trouble for years following a decade of overspending, and they continue to struggle to meet La Liga’s spending limits. Under the league’s 1:1 rule, Barcelona can only spend what they generate in income, a rule they have had difficulty adhering to in recent seasons.
Rather than relying on the sale of a key player, Barcelona are confident they can get both deals done by offloading several fringe players, according to Mundo Deportivo. The players on the list include Ansu Fati, Pau Victor, Pablo Torre, Inaki Pena, Oriol Romeu, Andreas Christensen, and long-serving goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Fati was once regarded as the future of the club and the heir to Lionel Messi, but the player has failed to earn regular minutes under successive managers and was close to joining Monaco this summer before talks stalled. Meanwhile, Christensen and Pena have struggled for consistency or game time, and Romeu has spent several years in and out of the squad on loan.
