Coutinho deal forces Barcelona chief to make transfer admission

Barcelona vice-president Jordi Mestra has admitted the club’s transfer budget will be vastly reduced next season after two windows of heavy spending.
The €105m capture of Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund in the summer and the €142million arrival of Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool last month means the club have more than spent the €222million they accrued from the sale of Neymar.
The Spanish giants’ net spend is over £290m for the season, with the club also bringing in Nelson Semedo and Paulinho in the summer and also recruiting Yerry Mina last month.
When asked by Sport how much money manager Ernesto Valverde had to spend next summer, Mestra conceded the coach would have a vastly reduced budget: “Each season we have the same amount: €60million plus sales.
“The wage bill is high, yes, because having the players we have is not cheap. Our priority is sports excellence and economic rigour. One endures the other. They are very linked.”
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