It makes sense.
I can see Barca paying top of the market for a talented young winger with Suarez out and their season in the balance. Bartomeu is facing stiff competition for re-election to their presidency next year, and another La Liga title and European Cup would go a long way towards securing that.
Four points out of Europe and seven points above the drop, I can see us telling them to go fly a kite. If this were last season where we were out of Europe and nearly assured of staying up at this point, I think Brands pulls the trigger.
I wouldn't get too worked up about this if true; Barca will not be back with that kind of money in the summer.