Messi983
Senior Member
At least he has experience playing as LB. He can't possibly be worse than Roberto there. Or using Semedo as LB and playing Roberto on the right.
I don't see Cucu as our future starter so I don't actually care so much about his development but I think he could be a useful backup to Alba for the next two seasons which is what I think we need for now.
I'm not against this option but who do you suggest?
I was just saying that I don't see a point in spending big money on a LB when we are planning to renew Alba until 2024. Which I strongly disagree with BTW (the length of his new contract not renewal itself. I think we should offer him extension till 2022 with a club option for another year at most).
Let's say we buy Firpo/Mendy for 50M but Alba keeps his playing on a high level for the next 2-3 years so that new LB would get limited playing time and want to leave before he would even get a chance to become our starter. (not to say his development would be stalled too) That's why at this moment I prefer to look for a cheap backup for the next 2 seasons whether that's Cucu or someone else for 10-20M instead of investing 50M in Firpo/Mendy whom I both like BTW and think they could be Alba's longterm replacements. But I just don't see 2019 as the right time to do that unless we buy one of them and leave him on loan at Betis/Lyon for a year or two. Can we financially afford that though?
Of course there is always a possibility Alba will fall off the cliff over the night but I think there are better odds he's still starting spot worthy in 2021 than Suarez and Pique. I think we should buy replacements for our old block in this order:
1. Suarez: 2019 - I don't "hate" him and think he's still very useful for the team but we probably won't have to wait for too long for people to start calling for his head if/when he'll go MIA again in the CL (hopefully I'm wrong). With no proven top strikers available (even if we'd be willing to pay 150M+ - which we probably can't afford - it wouldn't be enough to get Kane or Mbappe though as we're seeing with Coutinho even 150M signings are far from a guaranteed success) I don't see us having another option than take a gamble on one of those 50-60M rated players and hope for the best. If they'll work out great if not we'll sell them (with a loss) in a year or two and try our luck again.
2. Pique: 2019 or 2020 - I would really like to see what we have in Todibo who could surprise a lot of people imo before we commit a big money on Pique's potential replacement; obviously, CB could still be high on our priority list based on Umtiti's health concerns. If Big Sam will return this season without problems then I'm ok with Umtiti, Pique, Lenglet, Todibo CB rotation for another year.
T3. Alba: 2020 or more likely 2021. IF we can get Firpo/Mendy for around 30M this summer then I'm all for changing my "plans" and get one of them but this is very unlikely.
T3. Busquets: 2020 or more likely 2021 - I think with Arthur and FDJ fresher legs in the midfield he could still play on a good level for 2 seasons and both youngsters could also learn a lot from him. There are also limited options out there to replace Busi so we could give a chance to Oriol Busquets to prove his worth (well, more like potential) next season before investing big money. Maybe Arthur/FDJ could play DM longterm but for now I dont' think so as they are both limited defensively.
5. Messi: 2021 or 2022 - I think he still has a few top years left in him. We should look for players who could eventually take his spot in the XI but there is obviously no player who could replace what he brings individually so we shouldn't waste our time and money looking for "a new Messi".
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