The major issues that FC Barcelona continues to deal with revolve around their financial problems. Many years of inconsiderate spending and inadequate financial checks have ended up crippling the Catalan club’s economy. However, for Barcelona to return to normality, a sustainable system has to be adapted.
To adapt such a system, Barcelona would need to limit unnecessary expenses. This includes less-than-ideal contracts that involve salaries far too unjustified. Such contracts continue to exist within Barcelona, and some of them are due to previous deferments that the club had to agree with the players.
A living example of this is 29-year-old French defender Clement Lenglet. Having deferred his salary previously during Covid, the Barcelona defender is now expected to be paid close to €16 million next season unless Barça end up finding a solution to the dilemma that is the French defender himself.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the Barcelona defender has already rejected another proposal from Saudi Arabia. Middle Eastern club Al-Ittihad, led by former Barcelona associate and French connoisseur Ramon Planes, came to take the player but the Frenchman ended up rejecting their advance despite the lack of opportunities elsewhere.
Having recently spent the latest season on loan at English club Aston Villa, Lenglet is expected to return as a Barcelona player officially on the 1st of July, by when the duration of his loan ends. For now, Aston Villa have shown no interest in retaining the player, and despite this, the French defender continues to insist on playing in Europe next season no matter what.
During his loan spell at the team based in Birmingham, Clement’s salary was covered mainly by Aston Villa. As highlighted by MD, 75% of it was taken care of by the English outfit and Barcelona had to be responsible for the other 25% only. Now, with Lenglet coming back, Barça would have to take on the full responsibility again.
However, that is not ideal for the Catalan club. As a result, they are looking to offload the player as soon as possible without delay. The Saudi Arabian options were the best possible when the financial aspect is primarily considered, but due to the player’s sporting demands, it seems almost impossible to see any Middle Eastern club being able to take him away.
