A sidelined Barcelona forward is on the verge of a loan move to AS Monaco, aiming to revive his career with regular playing time.
Barcelona is looking to ramp up its efforts to sell a misfit attacker as part of its summer reshaping of the squad in order to alleviate some financial pressure and register a few new signings.
The club’s wage bill is still an issue, and the sporting department, led by Deco, has set a deadline of June 30 to conclude a transfer to a Ligue 1 club.
The transfer is crucial to take advantage of favourable tax parameters, with there needing to be financial feasibility for both the club and the player.
The player is currently at an advanced stage of negotiations, and the agent is also making attempts to assist Barcelona, together with the player’s selling club, to facilitate a swift move.
The player being sold is Ansu Fati, a 22-year-old La Masia graduate who has had his career severely hampered by injury and a failure to remain in form.
According to Diario Sport, Barcelona is working on a loan with an option to buy the 22-year-old for €14 million to AS Monaco, with the current negotiations focused on a possible loan-back clause.
Monaco, the Ligue 1 club, surfaced as the favourite ahead of Chelsea, eliminating some of the competition for Fati’s destination.
The June 30 date is important because if Fati signs with Monaco, the club can benefit from a tax residency exemption if Fati gets residency arranged by the end of June.
This will help Barcelona offload some of Fati’s high wages, and also allows the club to change the weight of Fati’s salary which is contracted until 2027, and ideally help to fund the salary cap changes with two players due to depart Pablo Torre and Pau Victor and other players as Deco is reshaping the club’s roster to match Hansi Flick’s vision.
Fati could be closing to a Monaco resolution, and if it does work out for him, it could represent a new start with Monaco while Barcelona can focus on their salary cap changes and planning for reinforcements.
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