If (and it's a BIG if) we manage to offload our fringe players and those players whose service is no longer required, we could be in for a hell of a ride this summer!
Imagine Marlon Santos going for the rumored 20 mil. euros; I've been observing a lot of interista's perspectives on Rafinha on both local and international Inter-forums, and they all seem to unanimously agree on keeping Rafinha on a permanent basis (talks of him and Cancelo as the 2 big additions the team is looking for, to bolster them in the CL - with Rafinha being the most important of the two; they were both loanees this season)
Most reports coming out of England regarding Deulofeu all agree on him securing a permanent spot with Watford in the future, with a meeting supposedly scheduled for next week, when Pep "Hijo de Puta" Segura comes back from his 'business' (read, holiday) in Brazil.
If we can pull off 20 mil. euros for Marlon, another 30-35 mil. euros for Rafinha (per our gentleman's agreement) and at least 15 mil. euros for Deulofeu, that would be massive. Not to mention we will probably see the departure of Vidal, Gomes, Paco, Digne, Cillesen (unfortunately, but he is too good, tbf) and presumably one of Vermaelen/Mina (Verminator would go for a small sum, while I find it highly unlikely Mina would leave for anything but a loan spell).
If we can amass somewhere near 60 mil. euros for Marlon, Deulofeu and Rafinha combined, that would be a great start. As for the rest of the squad, we desperately need the board to sign quality over quantity (I would rather we showed our La Masia youth system some trust, but that's a fantasy with the current board, and if the criteria is to buy, which unfortunately it is, we need to be much more astute in doing so). There is a World Cup coming up, which would give the board plenty of time to trim the squad down to 19 men (now at 21 without loaned out players)
I imagine these fee's are realistic:
Digne - 12-18 mil euros (Juventus are apparently interested, his price dropped a bit though, after not being selected for France at the WC)
Paco - 20 mil euros (Alcacer has a decent goal pr. 90 mins ratio and there is talks of interest from PrL clubs as well as clubs in La Liga)
Gomes - 15-25 mil. euros (this may seem low for some of you, but his recent season as well as being dropped for Portugal would mean we would have to cut our losses and take whatever offer comes our way - Tottenham may be interested as well as maybe Napoli or midlevel teams in the Premier League)
Vidal - 5-8 mil euros (talks of Sevilla, Valencia or another spanish club - He seems to be halfway out the door, like Gomes)
Cillesen - 20 mil euros (he is THAT good, and alot of Premier League clubs are desperate for his signings. Would definitely be an upgrade for most teams including big clubs that struggle on that post, like Liverpool).
Munir (?) - 10-15 mil euros (If we are to sell Paco, maybe we will bring Munir back. However, if we are to bring in Griezmann there is a big chance that Valverde will rotate heavily between Suarez, Dembélé, Griezmann, which would mean even less playing time for Munir; this one is tricky, though, as Suarez will be our only 'real' striker if we are to let Paco go.)
If we are succesful in off-loading the abovementioned 8 players (9 including Munir) at the estimated fees (remember, some are set low on purpose) we should be able to bring in a total of 150-170 mil. euros.
Realistically we end up selling probably 6 of those players (Digne, Cillesen, Munir the least likely to go) for a combined fee of around 110-130 mil euros, which would still be excellent. Add the allegedly 60 mil. euros the club has allocated for transfers each new summer window, would bring our total to slightly less than 200 mil. euros.
This would allow us to sign Griezmann for 100 mil euros, bring in Arthur in january for 30 mil. euros (which is stupid, but the reports in Catalunya and Brazil are pretty clear on this point, Arthur coming in this summer seems unlikely) and still have enough money to bring in a CM and a quality centreback (Thiago for 40-50 mil euros and Lenglet for around 30 mil. euros as an example)
If we were to sell Munir, we should consider bringing in either Arnaiz or Abel Ruiz as our sub forward, especially if the priority will be CL (rotation in Copa del Rey) - Alena is to be promoted to midfield as well and there is a talks of bringing in Cucurella as a reserve LB if we get a decent offer for Digne.
We should consider keeping Cillesen, as he is a quality keeper to have in CdR/on the bench, but he is to good to be sitting on the bench, frankly.
CONCLUSION
Players out Marlon, Rafinha, Deulofeu, Gomes, Paco, Vidal + (Digne, Cillesen, Munir)
Players in Griezmann, Arthur (january), CB, CM + (Alena, Arnaiz/Ruiz, Cucurella and possibly a Barca B keeper, Ortola most likely)
Our wage situation will be slightly better than previous seasons now that Iniesta is leaving, as well as trimming down the team (the wages for Paco, Gomes, Rafinha and Iniesta in particular would make way for improved contracts for Umtiti and Busquets as well as hopefully leaving room for new players, Griezmann being the most wage-heavy)
Our team for 2018/2019
GK - Ter Stegen
GK - (Cillesen)/Ortola
LB - Jordi Alba
LB - (Digne)/Cucurella
CB - S. Umtiti
CB - Piqué
CB - (Vermaelen)/(Mina)
CB - NEW SIGNING (Lenglet/De Ligt?)
RB - Semedo
RB/CM - S. Roberto
DM - Busquets
DM/CM - Rakitic
DM/CM - Paulinho
CM - Alena
CM - Arthur (january)
LM- D. Suarez
CM - NEW SIGNING (Thiago/Eriksen (unlikely, but contract ends in '19)/Ruiz?)
LM/AM - Coutinho
#1 - Leo
RW - Dembélé
LW/FW - Griezmann
FW - L. Suarez
FW - Arnaiz/Abel Ruiz
This would make our first team consist of 23 players, but in reality we would probably end up at around 19-20 (we had 24 in the current season, if including Arnaiz, Alena and Mascherano).
Let me hear your thoughts, guys (inb4 JamDav one-liner/strawman argument, shitting all over this post)
If we look at past seasons, the most likely scenario are numerous new loan deals unfortunately. Not sales for good money. Our track record is pretty awful.
