Renewing Lionel Messi's contract is undoubtedly a top priority in Barcelona's tight schedule. Laporta went to Madrid the day before yesterday, and La Liga president Tebas launched a direct exchange. However, Tebas not only rejected Barcelona's plan to pay Messi's annual salary in installments, but also hinted that Barcelona's salary cap for the next season could be cut to half of last year's cap of 347 million euros. World Sports Daily today disclosed that if Barcelona wants to keep Messi in this predicament, the only way is to start a comprehensive layoffs and pay cuts, and that's exactly how Laporta operates.
Barcelona have waved goodbye to four players this summer. Todibo was bought out by Nice, Miranda joined Betis without compensation and Matthews was released from his contract. Yesterday, Barcelona suddenly loaned Trincom to Wolves again, becoming the fourth player to leave the team. After Trincan's departure, Barcelona will promote B team captain Coriado to the first team. Despite their equal strength, Coriado's annual salary is much lower than Trincan's, a move aimed at lowering the payroll.
In addition to the four players currently remaining in the squad, Barcelona plan to sell Filpo to Leeds United for a whopping €15 million. In order to make space, Barcelona has also given notice of release to Pjanic and Umtiti. Both players are useless at Barcelona and are unavailable in the transfer market. According to Marca, the two have refused to release their contracts, but Barca will eventually let them go by all means. The likes of Braithwaite, Aleña and Longley have also been pushed into the transfer market, and despite their modest salaries, they have had a limited impact on overall salary control.
Coutinho and Griezmann could also leave Barcelona this summer. Coutinho has been the subject of endless rumors with AC Milan, and a sale would free up €50 million of Barcelona's payroll space. However, the Brazilian has been nursing an injury for six months and will probably only be loaned rather than sold outright. With Griezmann earning €40 million a year before tax, Barca wouldn't mind selling him, but the Frenchman's 30-year old age is a major concern.
At the moment, it seems that Barcelona will need to clean up almost half the team if they want to keep Messi. But this may be just the right thing for Barcelona to do. Among the players who are about to leave or have already left, only Griezmann and Longley were last season's starters, and their strength is only barely passable. Barcelona's abandonment of overpaid and underpaid players will create more opportunities for the youngsters, which is undoubtedly good news for the future. Often, the more turbulent the first team is, the more opportunities youth players have to make their mark. There is no shortage of talented youngsters in La Masia, they just need a stage to showcase their talents.
