Barcelona’s five tasks for the last week of the January transfer window
The final week of the 2022 January transfer window is about to begin and Barcelona are set to be one of the busiest clubs over the final days of the winter market. Joan Laporta has already brought in Dani Alves and Ferran Torres, while shipping out Philippe Coutinho, Yusuf Demir and Álex Collado.
Now, as the final week approaches, we outline the pending tasks that the Barça president still has to resolve.
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Solve the Dembélé situation
The most high-profile issue at Barcelona right now is that of Ousmane Dembélé. This week, sporting director Mateu Alemany explained that the Blaugrana would freeze out the French winger if he continued to reject their proposals for a new contract, with his current deal expiring in the summer. The players’ association hit back at Barcelona for this threat, while the player defended himself too on social media. It’s a messy situation and one Barcelona must resolve as soon as possible, whether or not the player stays while renewing, stays without renewing or leaves.
🔵🔴MATEU ALEMANY ON DEMBÉLÉ:
🗣️"We started talks in July, our offers have been systematically rejected by his agent."
"It's become clear he doesn't want to continue at Barça."
"We're looking for an immediate exit in January."#LLL
🧡🇪🇸⚽pic.twitter.com/4fpyp4RHkD— La Liga Lowdown 🧡🇪🇸⚽️ (@LaLigaLowdown) January 20, 2022
Clarify Sergiño Dest’s future
There are several candidates to potentially leave Barcelona this window and Sergiño Dest leads that list. The USMNT right-back isn’t in Xavi’s plans, especially not now that Dani Alves has returned to the club. There have been mixed reports over what exactly Dest wants to do, as some claim he wants to stay and fight for his place, while others reports say he would view a move to Bayern Munich favourably. If Dest is leaving then it makes sense to move him on already and that’s one of Barça’s tasks for this week.
Confirm their backup goalkeeper
There have also been rumours this January over a possible exit for Neto, who is currently backing up Marc-André ter Stegen. Barcelona have been firm in their stance that he won’t be allowed to leave unless they find a suitable replacement to come in and warm the bench in his place.
Create space for Óscar
In terms of potential arrivals, Óscar is one name who has been linked with Barcelona and the Brazilian has stated that there are ongoing negotiations with the directors at the Camp Nou. He still has a contract with Shanghai SIPG until 2024 and is currently the fifth-highest earner in world football, which is why it would be so difficult to fit him under the Blaugrana’s salary cap. But, Alemany and co. have produced many accounting gymnastics already this market and will study all possibilities.
Renew Gavi’s contract
With this task, January 31st isn’t the deadline. But, Barcelona want to sign Gavi to a new contract as soon as possible – as his current contract ends in 2023 and his current release clause is just €50m. Barça are continuing to work on this in the background and are expected to finalise and then announce a contract extension in the coming days or weeks.
