Barcelona's financial state worrying clubs into thinking ‘they might go bankrupt’ soon

Barcelona are finding it difficult to negotiate transfers with other clubs because of general thinking that they might not be around to pay installments of transfer fees in years to come.

Talksport journalist Alex Crook opened up on Barca’s frail situation in regards to their efforts to try and sign Raphinha from Leeds United. He said: “I strongly suspect he won’t be [on the flight to pre-season] because he wants to join Barcelona.

“They’re still yet to match the offer Chelsea made several weeks ago now, Chelsea are waiting to agree personal terms with Raphinha, but Barcelona are getting closer to that £55m fee.

“It’s a very creative deal. I was told by a source close to it that they [Barcelona] don’t want to pay their first chunk of money until next year.

“How palatable that will be for Leeds I don’t know, because I was told there’s a genuine concern among selling clubs that if they do that kind of deal with Barcelona, Barcelona might not be around to pay these instalments.

“They really fear for the future of Barcelona in terms of administration, maybe even bankruptcy. So, it’s a really difficult one for Leeds when you’ve got a player who’s really only got their sights on one club, you’ve accepted a bid from another, what do you do.”

Barca have signed two players on free transfers this summer, Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen, but have not been able to register them into their squad because of their bloated wage bill and financial troubles.

Source: Talksport