There’s nearly a month until the new La Liga season gets going.
Interestingly, it may take until then – or even longer – to resolve one issue which is threatening to shape one club’s summer.
That is the stand-off between Barcelona, second favourites for next season’s title with the SBOTOP La Liga betting odds, and their Dutch midfielder Frenkie De Jong.
The situation develops by the day.
Today, Barca have revealed their squad list for the pre-season tour of the USA, with no shortage of storylines to running parallel to it.
And, despite reports that De Jong may be left out to encourage him to agree a move, the Netherlands man has been included in the party.
Ultimately, management decided he should travel but, if the club’s financial predicament is as accurate as widely reported, surely he will have to be sold.
It is certainly a strategy Barcelona have employed with other senior members of the squad. The likes of Oscar Mingueza, Samuel Umtiti, Martin Braithwaite, Neto and Riqui Puig have all been left out of the travel plans in the hope that they will find moves away from the club in the meantime.
Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic is also supposedly on the list of players the club would like to leave, but has been included in the tour, showing that perhaps he could have a role with manager Xavi Hernandez this season.
From where I am standing the question is, how can Barcelona afford to keep such players when they are bringing plenty of names in?
The Brazil winger Raphinha completed his €58 million move from Leeds United on Friday, joining Franck Kessié and Andreas Christensen, who were out of contract at Milan and Chelsea, respectively.
Now it seems the most prolific frontman of all in recent years is set to deliver La Liga highlights in Catalonia.
According to reports, the club has reached an agreement in principle with Bayern Munich to sign striker Robert Lewandowski.
The Pole will join the Spanish team om a three year-deal in a contract worth 45 million euros, plus five million euros in variables.
On Saturday, the frontman trained with his Bayern teammates for the final time and was seen chatting with coach Julian Nagelsmann and colleagues before receiving a round of applause.
Initially, Bayern wouldn’t budge but agreement has finally been reached to continue a busy summer of recruitment for Xavi.
Having arrived in Munich from Borussia Dortmund in 2014, Lewandowski scored an incredible 238 goals in 253 games. He has won eight league titles and one Champions League trophy at Bayern, as well as setting a Bundesliga scoring record in 2020-21 with 41 goals.
His impending arrival means Xavi now has Lewandowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, talented teenager Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres, Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha competing for the front positions.
Indeed, it’s been quite a few days for the club with Raphinha supposedly turning down a move to Chelsea, while the prospect of Barcelona was on the table and certainly the legacy of a the Blaugrana’s 21st century success appears to be turning to their benefit.
Several players appear to have turned down more lucrative contracts as a result of their allure and, even with financial problems, Barcelona are able to pursue most of their targets.
Yet the main story goes back to De Jong because, due to the club’s position and with all these incomings, it surely means he has to leave?
It makes you wonder what arch rivals Real Madrid make of it all.
They did their business early with Aurelien Tchouameni brought in to bolster a vaunted midfield and centre-back Antonio Rudiger arriving from Chelsea via a free transfer.
The champions won’t be making any more signings according to Carlo Ancelotti, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any more business to be done at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Atop the agenda sits Dani Ceballos. The 25 year-old is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Ancelotti is trying to persuade him to stay with the promise that he will have minutes next season on account of the six competitions that Real will play.
However, Ceballos is trying to force his way into the Spain squad ahead of the World Cup, which he may need a starting role for. He has been linked with a return to hometown club Real Betis.
The sticking point there is that Los Verdiblancos are not willing to spend to bring Ceballos in.
Let’s wait and see.
Either way, it’s a lot less complicated than the situation in Barcelona.
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