I think Ferran will prove to be a pretty good player. Not great, but pretty good, 10 goals a year. It won't be while he is playing for Barca. He will do better elsewhere, needs a fresh start ASAP.
Barca Transfers and Rumors
- Thread starter LordLichtenstein
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I think Ferran will prove to be a pretty good player. Not great, but pretty good, 10 goals a year. It won't be while he is playing for Barca. He will do better elsewhere, needs a fresh start ASAP.
Aye. In Saudi Arabia for sure.
Birdy
Senior Member
Barca transfer planning under Xavi and Jordi Cryuff on Jan.'22 and summer'22:
- 55m for Ferran
- 58m for Raphina
- Kessie as free agent
Alternative transfer planning under a proper transfer department (analytics + market opportunities, not obsolete methods)
- 21m for Julian Alvarez in January (instead of Ferran)
- 15m for Kvaradona in the summer (instead of Raphinia)
- 44m for Enzo Fernandez in the summer (instead of Kessie and to replace Busi longterm)
33m less spend, team upgraded in 3 different crucial positions, with less wage for each of these 3
The difference between having people with expertise deciding on transfer targets and having the coach and an SD who both are based on their own intuitions and watchings (without resources) deciding on transfer targets
The difference between a club of the 21st century and a club of the 20th century
- 55m for Ferran
- 58m for Raphina
- Kessie as free agent
Alternative transfer planning under a proper transfer department (analytics + market opportunities, not obsolete methods)
- 21m for Julian Alvarez in January (instead of Ferran)
- 15m for Kvaradona in the summer (instead of Raphinia)
- 44m for Enzo Fernandez in the summer (instead of Kessie and to replace Busi longterm)
33m less spend, team upgraded in 3 different crucial positions, with less wage for each of these 3
The difference between having people with expertise deciding on transfer targets and having the coach and an SD who both are based on their own intuitions and watchings (without resources) deciding on transfer targets
The difference between a club of the 21st century and a club of the 20th century
DonAK
President of FC Barcelona
I'm not going to blame Barcelona for not signing Enzo Fernandez and Kvaradona. None of the other traditional elite clubs signed them either.
Now Julian Alvarez is a very interesting case as we were linked to him during that time, but you cannot get them all.
Can definitely blame them for spending 55m on Ferran Torres though. Not even about hindsight there. Just didn't make any sense as he's not worth anywhere close to that, especially a season removed from being signed for 20m and it's not like he was setting the Premier League on fire with his performances.
Now Julian Alvarez is a very interesting case as we were linked to him during that time, but you cannot get them all.
Can definitely blame them for spending 55m on Ferran Torres though. Not even about hindsight there. Just didn't make any sense as he's not worth anywhere close to that, especially a season removed from being signed for 20m and it's not like he was setting the Premier League on fire with his performances.
Birdy
Senior Member
AC Milan were also interested in Enzo but were waiting for Renato Sanchez.
But the point is that you need decent scouting based on analytics.
All of them were playing in Argentina and Kvara in Georgia. Leagues that are not so visible.
That's the point. If you need to see them in the CL or in the WC, that's too late. Their price is already 1000% up
DonAK
President of FC Barcelona
Our scouting might be elite, but they're not decision makers. They make their reports, do recommend players, but at the end of the day they don't make the final call or sit in the meetings where they decide on their transfer targets.
That might be an issue though.
Barcelona is a club with many people that sits on that table. Cooks if you may and you know what they say about too many cooks....
It's also a club beholden by agents and people with their own interests.
If there's one thing I'm never going to blame it's the scouts who travel all the time and not really in business class.
I don't really disagree with you tbh. Just saying I can understand why they made some of the decisions they made. It's a tough job evaluating players and taking those risks. You walk a fine line.
khaled_a_d
Senior Member
They also signed Aubameyang for free whom they sold for 12M after giving us brilliant 6 months, they signed Christensen for free and he is a total bargain, Kounde for 50M is also a very good deal.
Teams who heavily rely on analytics are risk averse and barely go to markets in South America or Russia, as they are very difficult to judge in terms of adjusting the numbers to fit top level, and lack of consistent data on those leagues, this is why a club like Liverpool rarely signs players directly from South America, even when there
was interest from their scouts (the ones who watch games) in Enzo for example.
So I am not sure how you are using those as examples in favour of analytics based signing, they are actually a prove that you need the old methods beside the new ones, that you can't be working with only one method and forget the other.
Barcelona has the resources, in both of scouts and analytics, but there are decision makers and at the end those are the ones who matter most.
I have my reservation on them, mainly due to lack of "hidden gem" success since Crujif has arrived which disappoints me. the likes of E.Demir, Y.Demir etc were bad signings, although seems like Abde might be a great find, Jutgla also worked great.
Opportunity cost is a tough bill to swallow in football tbh, always.
You never hit them all and there is always better alternatives. I would say that our transfers has improved a lot since Laporta/Crujif/Alemany has arrived, but we still need upgrade considering we are shit economically.
Would argue that Ferran Torres is bust, and Raphinha was overpaid a bit, and this sucks because both play in same position.
But overall, we are in better place now than we were in and that is with counting the financial sacrifices we made (Lvers)
Well the data said that Kvara had a poor season in Russian before moving back to Georgia thanks to the war.
I mean, I been raving about the lad well before the Georgia move but the data wasn't on his side at that point. Napoli didnt buy him because of the data, but the potential and gut feeling from watching him more than likely. A low cost punt that exploded in better football conditions of Serie A.
Hindsight is easy, every elite team would take Kvara now, but none would before. Not super data driven sides like Liverpool who replaced Mane and went for Diaz, or even Brighton.
So yes theres that.
But I do agree with you on something, I'm a super fuckin genius and would have signed Kvara in 2020. So thank you.
Birdy
Senior Member
My point was not to take Kvara now.
It is to find the Kvara of 2023 next summer that would cost 10m and will be a total bargain. Or the Alvarez of 2023, etc.
We don't have money and have Tebas on our shoulder.
One more reason to go that way.
I wanna see us risking with such low-cost transfers.
Besides, the 'sure' bets we are going for, like Raphinia, turn our not so great more frequently than not
Genius take.
wisconsincule
Senior Member
What a year for our free transfers.
Garcia fail but Kessie and Christensen massive success.
Seems quality players are running their contracts down every season. This is where we need to continue living.
Garcia fail but Kessie and Christensen massive success.
Seems quality players are running their contracts down every season. This is where we need to continue living.
Redbuck
Member
Gundogan as a DM ??? Not sure I like the sound of that. Switch FDJ and Gundogan and you're good to go
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