Barcelona has managed to consolidate the payroll to some extent and create some space for new signings – the loan transfer of Philippe Coutinho to Aston Villa and the reduction of Samuel Umtiti’s salary contributed the most. With the announced departures of Yusuf Demir, Luuk de Jong, goalkeeper Neto and possibly Sergino Dest and Clemont Lenglet, Barca made some room for the arrival of new players.Dani Alves and Ferran Torres have already been registered, and the next signing of Barcelona could be the Brazilian offensive midfielder Oscar.Wed, 22.00: (4.00) BARCELONA (3.60) REAL MADRID (2.00)The former Chelsea star has been playing for five years as a member of Chinese Shanghai, which he joined because of the huge money at a time – when Chinese clubs were enticing the stars with pharaonic offers for contracts. The Chinese then paid Chelsea 68 million USD and gave him a massive contract worth 28 million USD per year, which put him at the very top of the list of the highest-paid players in the world. He later extended that contract under the same conditions until January 2024 and remained among the 15 highest-paid players in world football.However, the situation in China has changed in recent years. The state banned large investments in football, so an exodus of playing and coaching stars followed. Of the more resounding names, only Oscar, Marouane Fellaini and Mousa Dembele remained. And now it seems that Oscar has decided to end his Chinese journey.Barcelona’s goofball logic strikes again as the club hands contract extension to unwanted manHis agent Kia Joorabchian (who also represents Coutinho) offered him to Barcelona. The player is ready to reduce his salary in order to play in the Blaugrana, but it must be very drastic in order to meet Barcelona’s current financial possibilities. The Catalans have not rejected the idea so far, an offensive midfielder would be more than welcome, but Xavi asked the sports sector to bring a center forward as a priority.Only if Barça finds a striker and if Oscar agrees to a very low salary, something solid could happen… Of course, provided that the Chinese let him go for free, which should not be a problem considering the savings they would make by removing his name from their payroll.
