Barcelona unable to find buyers for 30-year-old due to his wage demands - Reports
Barcelona are ready to offload Martin Braithwaite. However, his exorbitant salary is becoming a stumbling block in finding potential suitors, according to Spanish news outlet Sport.
The Dane has struggled to find regular game time since returning from a lengthy injury spell and is not in the new manager Xavi's plans for the future. The latter has even asked Braithwaite to look for an exit after a discussion in January. However, the Dane decided to remain in Catalonia and the club must now seek a solution in the summer.
His contract with the club runs till 2024, and he takes home an annual salary of €4 million, which is too expensive for interested parties like Brighton & Hove Albion. The Premier League side are interested in bringing the Dane to the Amex but might not be able to pay that salary.
Brighton are one of the teams that remain interested in Martin Braithwaite, but there is a problem: the forward has a contract until 2024 and a salary of around four million euros annually, which makes him too expensive for most suitors. [sport] https://t.co/uzzwxOiGqx
The Dane started his 2021-22 campaign brightly, scoring twice in the Blaugrana's 4-2 opening-day victory against Real Sociedad and making three consecutive starts. Things were looking on the up when the 30-year-old sustained a knee injury that sidelined him for nearly four months.
Since recovering in mid-January, he has played just ten minutes in La Liga - in the 4-0 win over Osasuna - and another 12 in the Copa del Rey against Athletic Bilbao.
Martin Braithwaite among Barcelona's worst January signings ever?
Braithwaite's transfer to Barcelona was a controversial one, as the Blaugrana were granted an emergency exception to sign him outside the transfer window due to Ousmane Dembele's injury.
Arriving for €18 million from Leganes, Braithwaite was touted as a strange signing, as many thought the player wasn't even a prolific goalscorer to begin with. His spells at Middlesbrough, Bordeaux and Leganes yielded only 26 goals from 102 games across competitions.
OFFICIAL | Adama Traoré, Martin Braithwaite and Luuk de Jong will not continue at Barcelona next season.
➪ Mundo Deportivo https://t.co/1EBRlZ5Hhc
At Barcelona, the striker's record has hardly been any better, netting only ten times in 58 games across competitions, including just five in 44 La Liga outings.
He was never anything more than a bit-part player, even when fit. Braithwaite is now spending what's possibly his last few games at the club on the bench. Barcelona have made quite a few eyebrow-raising acquisitions in the past, but Braithwaite's ranks somewhere near the top.