Barcelona’s vice president Jordi Cardoner has told ESPN that his club, along with most other clubs in Europe, will likely be trading rather than buying players this summer.
Speaking frankly in an interview quoted by Simon Kuper, the Barca administrator admitted that the club had already lost between €120m and €140m in lost revenue due to the ongoing hiatus.
He also asserted that the transfer market was going to be very different this year – and perhaps for a lot longer:
“[Player exchanges] will be part of the game. This is the way things will happen for next season for European clubs,” the Spaniard explained.
That seems likely, but even then only top teams like Barcelona have the depth and the quality players in their squad to allow them to pull off these kinds of deals.
It’s hard to imagine teams lower down the pyramid being able to engage even in simple loan trades. The fact that Barcelona have a stable of young players, like other top clubs, means they have a much stronger hand to work with.
The executive also suggested three party deals could become more common as teams desperately look for solutions in a truncated transfer period.
