To date, the economic impact that the coronavirus health crisis has had on the world of sports has been devastating. The competitions have stopped and the clubs are losing astronomical amounts of hundreds of millions of euros. The world of football has not been an exception and, in fact, the teams are negotiating with their players for significant salary cuts.
Naturally, if the clubs are bad enough to not be able to pay their stars' chips, they are also bad for signing. This is why the planning that the sports management of FC Barcelona had foreseen so far regarding possible reinforcements has been considerably limited and many movements will not be able to be carried out due to lack of financial resources.
According to information published by the Mundo Deportivo newspaper, the entity chaired by Josep Maria Bartomeu would have decided to rule out the arrivals of two young footballers that they liked very much: Ferran Torres (Valencia) and Gustavo Maia (Sao Paulo). Neither of the two signings is considered a priority, but are market bets, so the club will focus its minimized resources on the most important objectives.
In the case of Ferran Torres, there was a lot of interest from Barça due to the market opportunity it represented. The skillful 20-year-old Valencia player ends his contract in June 2021 and, due to his refusal to renew to date, the club in the capital of Turia is expected to sell it down. A tremendous market opportunity but, in the absence of financial muscle, it is ruled out to cover other needs.
Gustavo Maia, a winger from Sao Paulo who stood out for his quality at just 19 years old, was a bet with a great future ahead of him. The technical secretary headed by Éric Abidal had managed to block his departure and ensure his arrival, but he is finally going to be dismissed to focus on priority signings.