BARC-ING MAD: Barcelona to trigger ‘desperate’ fire sale of top stars including Griezmann and Dembele as coronavirus hits bank account

By Adrian Addison in Barcelona

BARCELONA could be the best two-man football team the world has ever seen, with Lionel Messi up front, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen between the sticks and, err, that's it.

Even for the diminutive Argentine genius and the world-class German shot stopper, two against 11 isn't exactly ideal.

Every other player is up for sale. All of them.

Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann, sick-note Ousmane Dembele... just name your price, and Barca will talk.

Even the club's homegrown backbone - Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba... Nou Camp bosses will listen to offers.

And sources close to the club told SunSport even strong offers for the best younger players - Barca's future - Frenkie de Jong and Ansu Fati would NOT be dismissed out of hand.

Marta Ramon, Barcelona reporter for Catalan radio station RAC1, told SunSport: "It's perfectly true to say that the Barcelona board is willing to sell players.

"Actually, they're kind of desperate to do so. Does that mean they want to sell the most of the squad? No.

"But... are they open to study offers for most of them? Hell, yes!

"They were already desperate before the coronavirus. Now the situation has got even worse."

Football needs to restart first though. The Spanish Prime Minster Pedro Sanchez announced on Tuesday that the lockdown would be eased in four phases, each lasting about two weeks.

Sanchez said: "By the end of June, we as a country will have entered into the new normality if the epidemic remains under control."

RAKITIC, COUTINHO & MELO OFF

Training sessions for professional footballers could actually restart fairly soon.

"Phase zero" of the release from the coronavirus lockdown starts Monday May 4, in which hairdressers and takeaway restaurants can reopen and, technically, professional sports leagues could also go back to training.

Barca have yet to announce any plans to call their players back into their state-of-the-art training complex on the edge of town or define what that would actually be.

La Liga has mooted restarting training from the second week of May with daily coronavirus testing in facilities almost hermetically sealed.

Training would be in three stages - individual, small groups and then the full team. The latter two stages would require the players be isolated from their families.

But when they do get their disinfected boots back on, some may be wondering for just how long.

One deal already being discussed with Juventus would see Arthur Melo swap shirts with Miralem Pjanic.

However, Arthur - who is out of favour at the Nou Camp anyway - insists he wants to stay.

It's unlikely Ivan Rakitic will be a Barcelona player next season and the club's bean counters are still trying to find a permanent buyer for Philippe Coutinho, the club's most-expensive signing at £145million.

Chelsea are interested but Barca want £87m for him. That's a lot of cash.

The Barca fire sale is just the latest in a long line of negative stories surrounding the club.

Messi and the rest of the squad were mightily p***ed off after insiders at the club had suggested they were resisting a 70 per cent pay cut at the start of the pandemic.

Earlier this year Messi had accused Eric Abidal of "dirtying" the squad when the club's sporting director effectively accused players of getting coach Ernesto Valverde the sack.

Then, a week or so later, the club had to deny it had hired a firm to produce negative social media content against their biggest names.

Messi may not be up for sale with the rest, but he has a clause in his contract that says he could leave for free at the end of the season anyway.

Fire sale or not. As is so often the case with FC Barcelona, there is a subtext. And it's political, it's always political.

Next summer, the club president Josep Maria Bartomeu's time is up and there will be an election. He cannot run again himself.

Six board members recently resigned in protest at the way Bartomeu was running the club.

A club insider told SunSport: "You have to realise that this is the final year or so of this president, if it was his first year - none of this would be happening.

"There are people inside and outside of the club jockeying for position, thinking about who will fight for the top chair in 2021.

"Plus, under Bartomeu, the club has made some dreadful buys - Coutinho, Dembele, even Griezmann. They paid a hell of a lot of cash for not much return."

AGEING LA MASIA CROP

And, though it may seem nuts to stick a "For Sale" sign on Busquets, Pique and Alba - especially as they're all fruit that fell from the hallowed La Masia youth tree - they're all over thirty.

There are plenty of people behind the scenes that think this could be an opportunity for the renewal that will soon be vital anyway.

There are plans to bring Xavi back as coach, assisted by fellow former captain Carles Puyol and Jordi Cruyff, son of Johan.

Former president Joan Laporta, who gets on well with Messi and Xavi, is considering a run for the top chair - as is Victor Font, leader of the fans group "Yes To The Future".

But that's a fight for next year, Bartomeu seems secure until his presidency dies of natural causes.

Right now, to buy - Barca have to sell. And how much would a midfielder of Busquet's quality be?

Where do you find a classy defender like Pique or a whippet like Alba?

Coronavirus disrupting the market or not, top talent will not be cheap.

A club insider told SunSport: "I think the coronavirus is going to change things within European football.

"Even huge clubs like Barca and Real Madrid will not be able to spend anything like what they used to.

"The only clubs that will be able to weather the storm will be PSG, Man City and Newcastle I guess if that deal goes ahead, because they're effectively state-owned."

THE SUN: Adrian Addison. Published: May 1 2020