Barcelona struggling to offload unwanted players

By Duncan Shaw Jul 16, 2007, 14:18 GMT

Madrid - Barcelona have captured the headlines around Planet Football in the past month with their audacious signings of Thierry Henry, Yaya Toure, Eric Abidal and - last but by no means least - Gabriel Milito.

Barca have spent almost 70 million euros (96.52 million dollars) on this talented quartet who will, it is hoped, rejuvenate a squad which has grown old, flabby and complacent after years of success.

Now the Catalan giants are faced with the Herculean task of offloading all the players no longer wanted by coach Frank Rijkaard.

So far, the only players to leave have been Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and Javier Saviola, but their departures have, in effect, created more problems than solutions.

Rijkaard wanted to keep Van Bronckhorst as experienced cover for Abidal but the veteran Dutchman insisted on signing for Feyenoord.

It is true that Barca wanted to be rid of Saviola - but the last thing they wanted was him signing for Real Madrid.

The decision to let the little Argentine go without a fee could well come back to haunt the Catalans, in the shape of crucial goals for Real.

The main problem now for Barca sporting director Txiki Begiristain is that most of the unwanted players are very comfortable at the Camp Nou, picking up high salaries in a beautiful city for turning up to training then sitting on the sub's bench - or up in the stands.

Take, for example, the case of Thiago Motta, who only made five league appearances last seasons. He earns around two million euros (2.76 million dollars) per season at Barca, and is obviously reluctant to join a club who will pay him less.

Motta is perfectly content to sit on the Barca bench for another season. His contract finishes in June 2008, then he can negotiate with any club of his choice as a free agent, without the obstacle of a transfer fee.

'It's going to be really difficult,' Begiristain told Sport at the weekend, 'to find a new club for all the players that we would like to move on.'

Ludovic Giuly is in a similar position to Motta. Monaco and Roma are both interested in him, but he would have to accept a wage cut if he joined either of those clubs.

The same could be said about Juliano Belletti, Sylvinho, Santi Ezquerro and Eidur Gudjohnsen: Why should they accept any move that Begiristain arranges for them, if it means that they will end up out of pocket?

It certainly looks like being a long, hot, hectic summer for poor Begiristain.