Barcelona are negotiating with Miralem Pjanic and Samuel Umtiti regarding a compensation package to be released, according to Goal. The Spanish giants have already confirmed the signings of Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay.
They will need to free up the wage bill to accommodate the new signings, and are also willing to offload the deadwood in the form of the pair. Umtiti’s time at Barcelona has been plagued by injuries, and he has been out of the starting lineup for a while now. As for Pjanic, he was signed in a £55 million swap deal involving Arthur Melo going the other way.
The Bosnian has struggled to establish himself as a starter in the midfield, and has spent the majority of his time at Camp Nou on the bench. Barcelona are hence looking to move the two players on this season by trying to agree an appreciable compensation package with them once they are released.
Tottenham and Chelsea are keeping tabs on Pjanic’s situation at Barcelona, while Umtiti has been pursued by Zenit St Petersburg. The centre-back is holding out for an offer for a bigger European club. But, his injuries will discourage most clubs from taking a chance even for free.
Barcelona have let go of Trincao, Konrad de la Fuente, Jean-Clair Todibo and will also sell Junior Firpo to Leeds as they go forth with their squad clearout. The main purpose is to accommodate Messi’s wages on the books as they try to get the player to sign a new contract with them.
