Status of Barcelona's 'Operation Exit' after Clement Lenglet departure
The French defender is gone and various other players may join him in leaving
While Barcelona are working tirelessly on activating their second economic lever, which will allow the club to enter the transfer market, the sports department are working on selling players too. On Friday they announced Clement Lenglet would be signing for Tottenham. In the Camp Nou offices they hope to seal the move of Francisco Trincao on loan to Sporting Lisbon soon enough.
He will join Philippe Coutinho (Aston Villa), Dani Alves (no team) and possibly Ousmane Dembele. The Frenchman’s case has a gigantic asterisk. He doesn’t have a contract with Barcelona, but right now it looks like he might agree to a new deal. Ferran Jutgla from the B team was also sold for 5m euros to Bruges.
Next up to find an exit for are Samuel Umtiti, Riqui Puig and Rey Manaj. The French defender was close to a Rennes move but the coach Bruno Genesio said on Friday that the club are unsure about him because of his physical condition.
The midfielder from Matadepera has a contract that expires in 2023. The latest option is a move on loan to Porto with a contract renewal so Barcelona can sell him at a later date. Meanwhile the Albanian striker could be going on loan to Watford.
Oscar Mingueza and Neto are not needed either but their exits are not moving as quickly. The defender has been linked to AC Monza, but Barcelona want 5m for him and the Italians don’t want to pay. Neto, like Martin Braithwaite and Miralem Pjanic, isn’t going anywhere for now.
Sergino Dest, Memphis Depay and Frenkie de Jong are three players Barcelona might sell as they can get good funds for them, but they don’t want to leave Camp Nou.
