Barcelona working on last-minute departures for seven players | OneFootball

With not much time left for the transfer window to close, Barcelona are stepping up their efforts to offload players as they are in dire need of meeting the financial fair play regulations in order to register Jules Kounde and any other signings that are made in the near future.

Barça encounter major troubles registering their new signings last week and were forced to trigger the fourth economic lever by selling 25% of Barça Studios for €100 million. That was enough to register six of the seven unregistered players, with Kounde left on standy.

As per the latest reports, Barcelona need €20 million to register the French defender. And with talks with the club captains over wage reductions and deferrals coming to a halt, player sales are seen as the best way to generate fair play.

To that end, according to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona are working on the potential sale of seven players as they look to meet the Financial Fair Play restrictions and go ahead with the registration of Kounde and any other incomings, most likely Marcos Alonso.

The seven players in question, whose exits are being worked upon, are Memphis Depay, Frenkie de Jong, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sergino Dest, Samuel Umtiti, Martin Braithwaite and Ez Abde.

Among the seven, Depay is already on his way out, with a move to Juventus all but done after he reportedly reached a contract agreement with the Italians.

Meanwhile, Aubameyang continues to be linked with a return to the Premier League, with Manchester United and Chelsea said to be jostling for his signature. However, the 33-year-old is keen on continuing at the club and has already informed the same to officials. But a move cannot be ruled out.

Dest, on the other hand, is being forced out following Xavi’s decision to axe him from the squad against Rayo Vallecano. But, the USMNT ace continues to insist that he wishes to continue in Catalonia amidst interest from Manchester United, where Erik ten Hag is eyeing a reunion.

De Jong’s situation has been well-publicised all through the summer as the Dutchman continues to stand firm on his desire to stay despite strong interest from Manchester United and Chelsea. His departure would be key for Barça to stand any chance of signing Bernardo Silva from Man City.

De Jong and Aubameyang are both being linked with exits from Barcelona (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

Umtiti’s time at Camp Nou has been up for a long time, but he continues to remain a Barcelona player due to a lack of suitors. There have been inquiries from Rennes, Lyon and Olympiacos, but no formal offer has arrived and the club fear that they will have to wait until the final stretches of the window to offload him.

Braithwaite is another player who is reluctant to leave Barça, but in his case it is for economic reasons as he does not wish to give up his lucrative contract. The club are losing patience with the Dane and could take drastic actions to part ways with him.

As for Abde, he will likely be allowed to leave on loan or even be permanently offloaded if it helps the club financially. There is also the possibility of him being used as a makeweight in any potential deals to drive the transfer fee down.

The situation, at the moment, is far from ideal, but efforts are being made by the club to clear out the players from the squad which should enable them to register Kounde and any more incomings.