5 players Barcelona should sell in 2022
Cash-strapped Barcelona are currently undergoing a transitional phase, all thanks to the mindless business they have conducted in the past few seasons. The once-mighty Catalans have fallen drastically from their position at the top and are literally duking it out in the mid-table of the Spanish top-flight. Despite being footballing royalties, Barcelona's current squad is considered to be one of the weakest among the other European elites.
Barcelona and their appalling transfers
The 26-time La Liga champions' exorbitant spending is common knowledge now. Their acquisitions of Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann for a combined total of around €400 million has been criticized over and over now. However, the fact that Barcelona periodically spend more than a dime on sub-par players like Paulinho and Luuk de Jong is also one of the reasons behind their downfall.
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Barcelona reportedly still owe as much as 115 million euros for the transfers of various players during the last few years:
🔸€39m – Juventus (Miralem Pjanić)
🔹€32m – Ajax (Frenkie De Jong)
🔸€16m – Ajax (Sergino Dest)
🔹€13m – Liverpool (Philippe Coutinho) https://t.co/fmeYg19I3T
Furthermore, the Blaugrana have developed a crippling habit of letting invaluable homegrown talent leave without truly giving them a chance. Marc Cucurella, Juan Miranda and Monchu are some of the casualties of the said phenomenon. Even former Barca B captain Alex Collado is currently wasting precious time on the sidelines, with the club failing to register him this season.
While La Masia graduates like Nico Gonzalez and Gavi are steadily making a name for themselves, it has more to do with Barcelona's current inability to buy proven players. Even so, gems like Riqui Puig and the aforementioned Collado continue to suffer due to the already-bloated squad.
Evidently, the Catalan giants are in dire need of a significant change in their personnel. On that note, let's take a look at five players that Barcelona should sell in 2022:
#5 Ousmane Dembele
Signed up for a mind-boggling fee of €135 million, Ousmane Dembele hasn't even come close to repaying the money that Barcelona have invested in him. The once-promising youngster was supposed to be Neymar's like-for-like replacement. However, Dembele has produced absolutely nothing in common with the Brazilian superstar.
Currently recovering from the 12th major injury of his Barcelona career, the France international is yet to make a worthwhile contribution at Camp Nou. While he did display flashes of brilliance last term in what was his first full season with the Blaugrana, his overall performance left much to be desired.
FC Barcelona would like to keep Ousmane Dembélé in their squad and extend his contract. But the French international is in the sights of Borussia Dortmund, his former club. https://t.co/dQlT1DclMc
Following the combined departures of Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann, Barcelona experienced a major reshuffling in their squad numbers. Dembele's designated number was also updated from 11 to 7. However, with stalled contract negotiations and his constantly depreciating market value, the Frenchman might not have much time to get accustomed to his new shirt number.
#4 Clement Lenglet
At Sevilla, Clement Lenglet was viewed as a decent centre-back with the potential to become truly world-class in the future. His €35.9 million switch to Catalonia in 2018 all but guaranteed his development, with Barcelona also looking for an adequate defensive cover for the injured Samuel Umtiti.
Everything looked perfect on paper as Lenglet went on to enjoy a fruitful debut campaign. However, the Frenchman has never been the same since the infamous 8-2 demolition at the hands of Bayern Munich in 2020. Lenglet followed that humiliation with a disappointing 2020-21 campaign, where the 26-year-old defender conceded an appalling four penalties.
❗Clément Lenglet's negligible prominence this season is due to a tendinitis that has been dragged for a long time.
• The ailments have improved as he hasn't played much. After the international break he is expected to get more playing time.
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Lenglet has been demoted to the bench ever since his form hit a roadblock, with Ronald Araujo, Oscar Mingueza and now Eric Garcia higher than him in the pecking order. Reportedly, Everton and Roma were interested in acquiring the centre-back's services this summer, but nothing materialized. If Lenglet continues to underwhelm in the ongoing season, Barcelona would be wise to cash in on the Frenchman come 2022.
Also read: 5 most underpaid Barcelona players right now