Barca to 'sign' from academy
The health crisis is going to leave us with a completely different transfer market. How signings will be made will be completely different.
There is talk of Rakitic and Umtiti leaving while the star player to arrive at the Camp Nou is Lautaro Martinez. As well as the Argentine, Barca could make two more 'signings'. They are both currently in the club's academy.
'Sport', in their paper this Monday, have indicated that Barcelona's plan is to start using the academy a bit more. They have been asked to do this in recent years and they were also criticised for not using them often enough. Now, the losses caused by the coronavirus could force their hand.
It is for that reason that Alena and Riqui Puig could become part of Setien's squad. The first of them went out on loan to Betis and has made 10 appearances, six of them as a starter.
With regards to Puig, the Catalans do not want him to keep moving between the B team and the first team. They would like him to move straight into the first team.
Another of the factors which has brought about this decision is financial. The current financial situation will not allow them to make many new signings. Just by cutting the players' salaries, Barca saved around 45 million euros.