Barcelona could go on a contract-termination spree in the summer to raise funds – report
Barcelona have an important couple of months ahead of them as they stare at a vital summer transfer window which could define how their next season pans out.
But before the Catalans can focus on their incomings, there is the matter of the club getting themselves into a better financial position with an increased salary margin so that they can register new players who are brought in.
Last summer, the Blaugrana ended up losing Lionel Messi because of the lack of margin on their wage bill to extend his contract. Furthermore, they had to enforce pay cuts on each of their four club captains and several other players in order to make room for new arrivals.
Heading into the summer of 2022, the situation has not improved a great deal and the Catalans once again need to find ways to create space for the incoming stars on their salary bill.
However, SPORT is reporting that this time around, Barcelona are not considering pay cuts as the process can be very tedious and would require a lot of negotiations with the representatives of each player.
But president Joan Laporta insisted in a recent interview that drastic measures will be taken if need be to ensure that the club are in a stable situation financially to welcome new signings in the summer
And, as per the report, those drastic measures could be the unilateral termination of contracts of players who Barcelona cannot offload.
The Catalans will make efforts to find new clubs for players who are not part of the plans. But in case they are unable to do so, they could resort to unilaterally terminating their contracts, as they did with Matheus Fernandes in the summer of last year.
Doing so would be a complicated procedure as players tend to take the legal route to try and get paid for the entirety of their contract upon termination. However, what it would do is grant Barcelona time until the legal proceedings are resolved.
But the report adds that termination of contracts and granting the release letters will be the last resort for Barça. They will continue to make efforts to sell players, even if it is for a lower fee than they might be expecting.
