It started with Barcelona president Joan Laporta showing a keen interest in signing Erling Haaland to keep Lionel Messi sweet.
It could end with Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele not being registered to start the new season.
No matter how Barca rearrange the deckchairs the ship is still sinking. Sportsmail tries to unravel the mess.
What’s the club’s biggest problem?
The wage bill. LaLiga has its own Financial Fair Play rules limiting what each club spends on salaries.
According to Catalan radio RAC 1, Barcelona need to wipe £156million (€187m) off their existing wage bill. Their limit was £296m (€347m) last year and now it’s £136m (€160m).
So why don’t they sell players? It’s simple isn’t it?
They have been trying to sell players for the best part of the last three years. It was the summer of 2019 when Coutinho went to Bayern in the hope that they would make the loan permanent. It didn’t happen.
They have tried to move Samuel Umtiti for almost as long. They can’t shift their stars. They had to resort to some financial gymnastics to get Arthur Melo out by bringing Miralem Pjanic in, but now they are stuck with Pjanic.
And Messi hasn’t renewed…
He wants to stay and Barcelona want to keep him but even renewing him on a deal that pales into insignificance compared to his last contract in 2017 is not conducive to making this £156m reduction.
What’s the worst scenario?
That he never comes back. That his last games for Barcelona were those tepid end of season league defeats that saw them blow the title in an empty Nou Camp stadium.
What else can Barcelona do to prevent this impending Armageddon?
They can write-off players’ contracts. They have already done it with bizarre Brazilian midfield signing Matheus Fernandes who now says he wants to take them to court for unfair dismissal – that’s the least of their problems by the way.
They can sell some of the younger fringe players too. Konrad De La Fuente has been sold to Marseille while Jean Claire-Todibo has gone to Nice. But this is chipping away at the iceberg with hammer. A very small hammer.
What about selling the young players that will bring in money?
Pedri has lit up the Euros. Ansu Fati is injured but would clearly have a long line of suitors if he was offered. And powerful midfielder Illaix Moriba, who emerged last season, has already sparked interest in England.
But this is every bit as much ‘selling the crown jewels’ as not renewing Messi. These three players are the future of the club.
So players really will be paid to leave?
The problem with this is that it costs money to pay people off and that adds to Barcelona’s debt.
Debt, along with income is the marker used to calculate LaLiga’s wage caps. On the bright side it would contribute to next season’s wage cap. It kicks the problem down the road and that looks a good option right now.
So players such as Coutinho, Dembele and Griezmann could really be told to leave or they won’t be registered?
Griezmann no. He has already been messaged by Koeman with regards to when to arrive for pre-season training. The club still want a Messi, Aguero, Griezmann forward line for next season.
But Coutinho and Dembele are in danger of becoming collateral damage. Coutinho is still recovering from injury and Dembele has just picked up an injury that will keep him out for four months. Barcelona could make it clear that they will not be registered.
Is there no sign of a token gesture from Messi? Could he not play for nothing for a season?
The club are not holding their breath. Messi’s view seems to be that he did not get Barcelona into this mess. He has done nothing but bring revenue and trophies for the last 15 years.
The blame lies at the feet of previous president Josep Bartomeu who handled the club’s finances so poorly. Messi also has to bear in mind his own legal position.
Barcelona can come up with an elaborate scheme to pay him the same amount of money but over a longer period of time incorporating future ambassadorial work but Messi has already been in trouble with Spain’s tax man and another offence would run the risk of a custodial sentence.
Why when Barcelona are in this position have the club done nothing more than sign new players in recent weeks?
Bartomeu’s doing once again. Deals that were set up by the previous president. Aguero was Laporta’s doing but that was to persuade Messi that his future lay at the club.
Is there any rug that they haven’t looked under?
There is one option that they may have to consider: break the rules and pay the consequences.
LaLiga’s resolve has still not really been tested in terms of what they will do to clubs who break the wage structures imposed on them. Barca could go their own way and then face the fines further down the line.
It’s looking grim.
LaLiga don’t want to lose Messi, their biggest selling point. And the Spanish taxman does not want to lose his biggest contributor. Everyone believes a way will be found, for now but nobody at the moment knows what it is.
