Barcelona financial problems playing into Azpilicueta, Alonso, De Jong situations; Aubameyang, too?

Barcelona and Chelsea have unexpectedly become intertwined in this transfer window, and especially to their advantage, with the Blaugrana taking Andreas Christensen from us on a free transfer, and then the Blues for both Raphinha and Jules Koundé (and, in a sense, Ousmane Dembélé too). ).

And they all did that while, by all accounts, they were broke as a joke.

Barça have used various financial means to mortgage the future of their club for cash – up to three now, and this is the scammer of them all so far! — but reports that have emerged in recent days paint a rather disturbing picture for them, which may include a deficit of €50-150 million still. A fourth “lever” may be needed to register their current roster with the league, let alone complete transfers for additional goals such as César Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso.

While various reports have blamed those two defenders who still wear Chelsea Blue on various factors – Chelsea “blocking” the transfers is a good one, largely by having the audacity to charge non-minimal transfer fees – but no matter who the ” wrong” it may be, they both stay with us on the eve of the new season.

Meanwhile, Barcelona’s desperate need for cash could be helped by outbound transfers, but there has been surprisingly little action, and certainly no action of any significance on that front. Chelsea and Manchester United are closely linked to Frenkie De Jong, so that could change in the near future, but given the potential costs involved, I can’t imagine this being a high priority for us at the moment.

Similarly, recent reports have linked Chelsea to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (not Memphis Depay), who, of course, played under Thomas Tuchel at Borussia Dortmund. But this idea still remains in the realm of speculation, especially as Chelsea seem to be polling all the players for fun.