The magic of a brilliant 2024–25 season and the high expectations of perhaps an even better 2025–26 for Barcelona sandwich what is currently a summer defined by a crude reality-check regarding the club’s financial situation.
News broke recently that for a second straight summer, Nico Williams won’t join the Catalans after he put pen-to-paper on a new long-term deal to stay at Athletic Club.
Barcelona had already agreed to personal terms with the winger, but the club’s financial inability to trigger his release clause and later register him to play while meeting La Liga’s 1:1 rule—the freedom to spend €1 for every €1 raised—saw what looked like an imminent transfer become a pipe-dream once again.
So, Barcelona are back to the drawing board, but in order to be able to think of alternatives to Williams’s failed transfer, the club must first offload salaries and generate income to facilitate the possibility of new reinforcements.
Barcelona need to make money. Simple as that.
Ansu Fati already left Barcelona for Monaco on a loan deal that will save the Catalans close to €7 million ($8.2 million) on the player’s salary. Álex Valle also left for Como earlier in the summer.
Still, more is needed for Barcelona to have the financial flexibility to meet both La Liga and UEFA’s rules and to be active in the transfer window.
Here’s a list of players that could leave Barcelona in coming weeks.
