No moves for Neymar or Lautaro Martinez will take place this summer, asserts Josep Maria Bartomeu
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has revealed that the club has put a hold to any moves for Neymar or Lautaro Martinez this summer because of the coronavirus. The financial impact of a lockdown and playing behind closed doors has affected clubs across Europe with Barcelona on that list.
For the first time in a long time, Barcelona ended a season without a single trophy with them falling well short of Real Madrid in the race for the La Liga crown. They failed to get past the quarter-finals of the Copa Del Rey as well with Athletic Bilbao knocking them out. That has seen reports indicate that Barcelona are looking to reinforce their team with moves for Lautaro Martinez and Neymar amongst other signings.
That does include the already completed move for Miralem Pjanic but their offensive line has looked bare beyond the presence of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann. That has seen many fans hope that a move for either Lautaro Martinez or Neymar but Josep Maria Bartomeu has admitted that any move for either star will be impossible. The Barcelona president also added that in the current situation, any expensive move becomes tough to put together for the club.
“Barca have spoken to Inter about Lautaro over the last few weeks but the conversations have been put on hold by mutual consent. The current situation doesn't allow for major transfer fees,” he admitted to Sport before confessing that Brazil star Neymar is similarly out of reach. In the current situation, no. PSG don't want to sell either, which makes sense as he's one of the best players in the world. Last summer we tried really hard to sign him but this summer we won't even try,” Bartomeu said, reported Goal.
“The club lost €200 million (£180m/$235m) between March and June. If the situation doesn't improve, there won't be people in the stands, at the museum or the shops and we'll keep losing money. This will cause us to revise our spending plans and which ones can wait. We have to adapt. All the big European clubs have been impacted by this and we are all working to adapt. This won't be for just one year, it could be for up to three or four years.”
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