Wolves journalist Liam Keen has given his views on the future surrounding Barcelona loanee Francisco Trincao following developments at his parent club.
The Molineux outfit signed the Portuguese winger on loan from the La Liga giants this summer as they look to bounce back after something of a slump last season following two consecutive 7th-placed finishes in the Premier League.
However, their slump is nothing compared to the problems that are going on at Barcelona right now amid their monumental financial crisis, having been forced to part company with Lionel Messi in the process to try and make things better.
Their situation caused a supporter to pose a question on the latest edition of the E&S Wolves podcast on whether or not Trincao would have to make his way back to Barcelona at any point this season.
In response to the question, Keen seemed to dismiss the idea, noting that Barcelona won’t want to be taking on any extra players, so there shouldn’t be any reason why Trincao would be made to leave Molineux this campaign:
“I can’t see him being recalled. I’m not sure if there’s the option for that in the contract, however, Barca’s money problems – they can’t afford to bring someone back in and add the wages on to their wage budget, they’re in serious trouble.
“I don’t know if anyone knows the full details of it, but they’ve had to trim their wage budget from 500-odd million, I think it was, to about 180-odd. I think those are the right figures. Either way, they’re trimming it to about a mid-table Premier League side, and that says everything you need to know.
“They can’t afford to be adding wages on top of that anymore, they’ve just got to try and make sure they’ve got a squad ready for the season.”
TIF Thoughts on Liam Keen’s comments about Francisco Trincao at Wolves…
Will Wolves finish in the top half this season?
Yes
No
It certainly would be a shame if Wolves were forced to hand him back just because of problems that Barcelona have created for themselves.
Wolves obviously brought him in because they felt he could bring something to the side, and with 18 goals and 21 assists to his name so far in his career at just 21, he can certainly give them something when it comes to firepower up top, so if anyone should be dictating what happens to him this season, it should perhaps be Wolves.
If things don’t quite work out for him, then they can always look to try and cancel the deal, but whether or not Barcelona would be willing to take him back for the reasons that Keen laid out is a different matter, as they’d probably need to find another club trying to take him on.
In other news: “Big season for…” – Wolves journalist hints at attacking role for “talented” 20 y/o under Lage