Barça must sell to be able to improve their XI

The World Cup goes on but let's not kid ourselves: after Messi, Ronaldo and Spain exited, a lot of space has opened up. All of a sudden, the transfer market has warmed up with the news of Ronald's possible move to Juventus. It's taken just two days for his unsustainable situation at Madrid to explode after he left for the World Cup having suggested he would leave the club following the Champions League win. 

Noise surrounds the Portugal forward once again, which confirms that the relationship with Madrid president Florentino Perez has now soured to the point where things are irreversible. The only solution is a quick, clean exit to avoid an unmanageable bomb going off. The Ronaldo saga reminds Madrid, all of a sudden, that they have a lot of issues on the table. The early elimination of Spain and Argentina accelerated the return of Barcelona's star players and opened the file on this summer's business.  

Despite having many weeks ahead of them, there are players at Barça who need to be sold urgently to be able to regenerate the squad -- and above all to have the resources to sign. Barça have their business almost completed in terms or incomings with Lenglet and Arthur. There's nothing immediately on the horizon after that. The option to sign Ajax's De Jong has gone cold and other 'top' midfielders targetted after Griezmann's 'no' are still not attainable until cash is brought in. 

Barça moved for Lenglet because they don't have faith in Vermaelen, due to injuries, or Yerry Mina, due to his inexperience, despite his World Cup showings. And they accelerated a deal for Arthur due to Aleña's injury, which came at an unfortunate moment as he was about to leap into the first team. In both cases, we're talking about back up players for now, taking on roles which, in normal circumstances, would be filled by academy graduates. 

In any case, the experience of recent years shows us that the profitable thing is to sign players who can come straight into the side and fight for a regular place. Coutinho was a good signing because no one disputes that he should be in the team and he has a huge future ahead of him. There are no secrets: Barça must sell now to be able to sign a player who will improve their XI.