Barcelona still owe transfer fees worth £98m for players, including Philippe Coutinho

Barcelona's financial situation continues to be in dire straits, and now, it has been revealed that the club still owes £98m in transfer fees for four players.

The club are in serious debt and have asked several players to take pay cuts. They were also unable to offer club legend, Lionel Messi a new contract, which resulted in him joining Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer earlier this summer.

The club also offloaded Antoine Griezmann, Emerson Royal, Junior Firpo, and Miralem Pjanic to trim the wage bill. But according to Marca, the Catalan giants are still short of £98m for signings that were completed as far back as four years ago.

Ajax are owed £40.8m by Barca for the signings of Frenkie de Jong (£27.2m outstanding) and Sergino Dest (£13.6m outstanding). The LaLiga giants also owe Liverpool £11m for Phillipe Coutinho despite signing him in 2017.

Juventus also owed £33.2m for the signing of Miralem Pjanic, who only started six games last season, and is currently out on loan at Besiktas despite having a £340m release clause inserted in his contract.

On the pitch, Barcelona continue to struggle under Ronald Koeman, who has come underfire for the team's performances so far this season. Barca dropped to ninth on the LaLiga table following their 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

However, Joan Laporta has continued to insist that the club stand firmly behind Koeman, and said: "No matter the result, Koeman will stay on as coach. He deserves a margin of confidence. Koeman is a cule and a reference point for Barcelona.

“I have spoken with him and I have drawn my conclusions. I really appreciate that he is leading Barca at a time of difficulty.”