Three sales that could help Barcelona sign Haaland in the summer

It’s no secret that Barcelona are keen on landing Borussia Dortmund frontman Erling Haaland. But with the economy going south, the club is working on building a project that will, in fact, sustain a big-money move in the summer.

However, signing Haaland won’t be a straightforward deal, to say the very least. The club knows a move could exceed €200 million in the transfer fee, and they plan to cash in on their loan players in order to generate extra revenue.

Although Barcelona are well-positioned to sign Haaland, they understand that rostering need a change. As a matter of fact, the team has already identified three players whose sales can generate revenue in access of €110 million. These are Francisco Trincao, Antoine Griezmann, and Philippe Coutinho.

Trincao, who signed for Barça in 2020 for a fee reported to be around €31 million, is on loan to the Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers. Bruno Lage’s team has an option to buy the former Braga winger for €30 million, however, not exercising the option would result in a penalty of €6 million, which would be a direct credit to Barcelona’s accounts.

Griezmann, on the other hand, represents a value of €40 million. Following his return to Atletico Madrid on loan, Barcelona received an upfront payment of €10 million and a clause of an obligatory permanent transfer worth €40 million was inserted too. That, however, will only come into effect if the Frenchman plays at least 50% of the matches in which he is available.

It’s interesting to note that Atletico also have an option to extend the loan by a further year, meaning that Barcelona will only receive the fee by 2023.

Coutinho is the most uncertain source of all as his new club, Aston Villa, do not have an obligation to buy. However, in case they do decide to bring him in permanently, a fee of around €40 million is being touted. Coutinho will finish his loan tenure by the end of the season, and Villa will then decide whether they want him to stay or not.

While these three players represent a significant source of credit, Barcelona also have Miralem Pjanic on loan to Besiktas. He is set to return in the summer, and the team will need to find a way of generating some kind of revenue out of the midfielder.