Barcelona have been in dire straits in terms of their spending power in recent offseasons, but are yet to make a major sale too. The likes of Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique have all left, taking with them major salaries, while Frenkie de Jong was attracting interest last summer, but the Blaugrana continue to hold their ground on their young stars.
After news that Manchester City tried to recruit Lamine Yamal during the summer, Sport have revealed that the idea of selling one of Gavi or Pedri has been broached internally at Barcelona, with plenty of interest. According to the Catalan daily, the likes of Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain have all enquired about the young pair, with their price tags likely in excess of €100m.
That would have gone a long way to helping their salary limit struggles, but the topic has become taboo within the club, as they dare not sell two of their greatest assets. The pair also represent the model Barcelona want to follow in the coming years, buying and bringing through youngsters into stars. Barcelona want to keep them at the club in the short and medium term.
Given their current finances, selling one of Gavi or Pedri no doubt would have gone down well with the accountants, and it could have helped the Blaugrana avoid selling some more permanent assets, such as Barca Vision or their TV rights for the next 25 years.
Equally, being forced into the sale of a player they would desperately like to keep would have been a psychological blow for Barcelona, who could no longer look in the mirror and see a big fish. Perhaps the reality is that they cannot compete financially, but going from the side that can pay over the odds for any player to a side that can no longer hang onto their own players in the space of five years would have been a crushing blow.
