Barcelona could be forced to sell Inigo Martinez.
Barça views the registration of Íñigo Martínez as a problem, and therefore, he could depart this coming summer. According to Marta Ramon of RAC1. at this point club sources admit that the center-back’s future is not guaranteed despite having a second year of contract signed. Moreover, there’s a strong possibility of him leaving this summer because he needs to be registered from scratch, as if he were a new signing, and finding space for him will be very difficult given Barça’s extremely tough situation to return to the 1-1 rule and operate normally.
Barça signed Íñigo Martínez last summer for two seasons at no cost, with a salary that, they say, wasn’t at the low end of the locker room scale… and La Liga agreed to register him for only one season because there was no more margin. It remained pending to do the homework from June 30: it was a forward pass that had to be resolved in the future. As the summer market approaches, the economic signals emitted by Barça are not good: the most recent data related to the Fair Play is the salary cap after the winter market: Barça has a limit of 204 million to spend on salaries when its projected salary mass for this season is 492.
Furthermore – and this counts towards Fair Play -, Barça has a deviation of 37 million euros from its budget and an additional 15 million could be added if it fails to qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals. Barça believes they have too many central defenders on the payroll, and none of them have a low salary. There are a total of 6 (including loaned players Èric Garcia and Clément Lenglet), and not all of their salaries fit.
The piece that could trigger more or fewer exits in this position is Ronald Araujo. Internally, there are doubts about whether the captain will want to continue at Barça next season or not. Aside from the central’s will, it’s also necessary to consider that the club needs a significant sale approaching 100 million euros to improve its financial situation. Koundé also has a market, and his irregular performance puts him under scrutiny for a possible departure.
One player who is certain to stay (the club has already conveyed confidence to him in an initial contact to improve his conditions) is Pau Cubarsí: the 17-year-old center-back has a contract until 2026, and when he turns 18, he will be offered a new professional contract. It has been reported on RAC1 that he has no intention of listening to any offers.
