Barcelona Players Express Concerns With Club Open to Selling 'All But 6' First-Team Players

The ongoing financial worries at Barcelona have left a host of first-team stars concerned, with it revealed that the 'majority' of the squad is up for sale this summer.

Just as with the rest of Europe, the Blaugrana have been out of action for a number of months due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has put an immeasurable strain on the club's finances - an issue which is set to get worse before it gets better, even if La Liga is due to resume in June.

Barcelona spent over £245m on players last summer - as well as another £38m back in January - with precious few of those additions having lived up to expectations, perhaps barring Frenkie de Jong. Nevertheless, their big spending has come back to bite them as football has taken an unprecedented halt.

With swap deals likely to be the main form of transfer when the summer window eventually opens, Marca have claimed that the whole squad, with the exceptions of Marc-André ter Stegen, Gerard Piqué, De Jong, Antoine Griezmann, Lionel Messi and Ansu Fatu, are up for sale.

This has caused significant unrest within the team, as a number of players have spoken out in fear of their futures at Camp Nou.

"No one knows what the future holds as a footballer, but I hope to be at Barcelona next season," Clement Lenglet recently told RMC Sport. "It will depend on the transfer window. It's a special period for clubs and no one is exempt from anything, but I hope to stay."

Despite making 29 appearances this season and impressing in central defence, the Frenchman is available for sale should an acceptable offer come in. Lenglet still has three years left on his current deal and cost the club €35m in 2018.

Ivan Rakitic is another player whose future has dominated the headlines over the past 12 months. The midfielder expressed his unhappiness with his club's handling of the situation, having openly spoken of his desire to remain with the side on many occasions before.

He explained: "I'd have liked it if the club had come out and said that I'd be staying, just to stop the rumours."

Alongside Rakitic in being up for sale are a couple more of the older players in the squad, Neto and Arturo Vidal. However, it isn't just the senior players who are in the shop window, as
youngsters like Jean-Clair Todibo, Ousmane Dembélé, Moussa Wagué and Junior Firpo are also available on the market.

Vidal has claimed he is 'very happy and settled in Barcelona', but one player who could be moved on is defender Todibo. Currently on loan at Bundesliga side Schalke 04, he admitted that a permanent move away from Barça is the more likely outcome.

"In relation to my future, the truth is that I imagine myself staying at Schalke," he confessed.

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