Football Club Barcelona had a viciously topsy-turvy season as they went from the possibility of winning a historic third treble to ultimately ending with a single trophy inside a matter of 15 days.
The Blaugrana club were on the receiving end of yet another Remontada in Europe, this time at the hands of Liverpool. After two consecutive humiliations in Europe under their manager Ernesto Valverde, the Catalan club are readying to solve the matters off the pitch in the summer transfer window.
With the signing of Frenkie de Jong already official and Antoine Griezmann on the cusp of moving to Camp Nou, the club’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu will be looking forward to offloading some players in order to balance the books.
As of now the Spanish giants boasts of one of the heaviest wage bills in Europe which could raise concerns once the new players sign their contracts. Let’s take a look at three players whose departure will not hurt the Camp Nou outfit and can, in fact, benefit their attempt at restructuring.
Ivan Rakitic
The Croatian midfielder was having a decent season until his abysmal performance at Anfield which saw Barca forfeit a 3 goal advantage. He made a big mistake for Liverpool’s second goal playing the ball to Jordi Alba in a tight space which triggered the turmoil that followed afterwards.
The 31-year-old has two years left on his contract at the Camp Nou and his value seems to be dropping with each passing day. Rakitic was on the Paris Saint-Germain transfer shortlist last year after a fantastic World Cup but his stocks have fallen since and it will be difficult for Barcelona to recoup a decent figure for the Croatian if he decides to run down his contract.
With the arrival of Frenkie de Jong and academy products in Carles Alena and Riqui Puig making considerable advancement, it is best for everyone that Azulgrana cut their ties loose with the 31-year-old and start planning for the future.
Denis Suarez
Suarez, who moved from Villareal to Barcelona in the summer of 2016, never got going at Nou Camp. He was loaned out to Arsenal in the second half of the 2018/19 season and is one of the many players who is expected to be deemed as dispensable by the club.
Once he returns to Barcelona on July 1st and his injury concerns are dealt with, its highly likely that the 25-year-old who managed only 2 goals and 1 assist in 14 appearances will be put on the market once again.
Rafinha
Rafinha Alcantara has been out of action following a knee injury he suffered earlier in the season restricting him to just 8 games in the whole 2018/19 campaign. The Brazilian who has spent a majority of his younger days on loan spells away from Camp Nou isn’t getting any better and with just a single goal last season he is nowhere near the level required to be considered for the first team next season.