Barcelona will have problems selling players during winter transfer window

FC Barcelona have earmarked a number of targets for the January transfer window including Ferran Torres. However, it appears as though they may have been over optimistic in their plan to offload players in order to be able to bring in new talent.

As it stands the severance pay for sacked manager Ronald Koeman and the release clause and wages for his replacement, Xavi Hernandez, have not helped their financial position. The Catalan giants simply can't afford to spend for new signings that they desperately need. In order to be able to make some kind of deal with Manchester City for Torres, they are trying to throw in Ousmane Dembele, Coutinho or Samuel Umtiti as part of the package.

According to Marca, Manchester City isn't planning on letting Torres go for less than 70 million euros. The former Valencia forward is open to leaving for a club that could give him more minutes, but Barcelona need to find a way to produce the funds. In terms of cash, they are optimistically offering in the region of 45 million euros, with a player to hopefully strike out the balance.

With City refusing to consider any of the players on offer, the negotiations have reportedly reached a dead end. Even if Barcelona comes to a personal agreement with Torres, the Premier League champions still have the final say on the matter.

The fact that Barcelona had been unable to find a buyer for Umtiti and Coutinho for the past year is a well known fact. Clubs are not interested in meeting Barcelona's valuation for the two players, especially since they have not excelled on the pitch in recent months either. Any interested clubs also know that they can simply wait for the players to become free agents of for Barcelona to be forced to lower the asking price.

Dembele has a better chance of finding a new home, even if it isn't at Manchester City. Barcelona has been trying to convince him to sign a new contract, but the Frenchman knows he can get a more lucrative deal elsewhere. Unfortunately for Barcelona, he can run down his contract and leave on a free transfer next summer. That means the best they can get out of the situation is freedom from having to pay his wages. There won't be any cash injection coming off transfer fees.