Barcelona have rejected an eye-watering bid for one of their youngsters.
The Catalan giants’ deep financial problems have been widely reported for several years.
Since returning for a second spell as the club’s president in March 2021, Joan Laporta has used several creative solutions, including ‘levers’ of money borrowed from Barcelona’s future earnings, to keep the current crop as competitive as possible.
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However, the summer is likely to see cuts to the wage bill and the sale of first-team players, with the club desperate to make a dent in their €1billion (£860million) debts and meet La Liga and UEFA’s financial sustainability regulations.
But despite their financial woes, Laporta revealed that Barcelona has rejected an enormous £172million for teenager Lamine Yamal, which is just shy of the world-record £191million fee Paris Saint-Germain paid the Catalan giants for Neymar Jr back in 2017.
Laporta told Mundo Deportivo: “We don't want to sell any big player. If all goes to plan with our goals, we won't be forced to sell any player.
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“Of course, if someone wants to leave, we won't stop them. But I'm not worried at all about that, we want to keep the same squad.”
Commenting directly on approaches for Yamal, Laporta said: “We're receiving crazy bids for players like Lamine Yamal around €200m and we're rejecting, of course.
“We trust Lamine and we don't need to sell”.
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Laporta added that the likes of Alejandro Balde, Fermin Lopez and Ronald Araujo have also attracted interest from elsewhere.
He continued: “We received bids for Balde, Fermin, Pedri, De Jong, Araujo, Gavi… we don't want to sell our stars.”
Yamal, who is just 16 years old, has made 39 appearances for Barcelona in all competitions this term, netting six goals and claiming seven assists.
Featured Image Credit: GettyTopics: Barcelona, La Liga, Joan Laporta, Lamine Yamal, Neymar