Barça's Transfers and Rumors

[JamDav1982]

Jombi you are naming three players chased from top clubs in the last 5 years.

It is not the strategy to only go after these players but it is worthwhile to see if can get them as ALL top clubs do not just Barca.

 

[Bertus]

I'd say it is unique that we obsess about players from Arsenal and PSG. We dont see this type of strategy in other top clubs IMO. They go for younger players from leagues like Ligue 1, Dutch top division, Portugese league etc. Perhaps because they have a more extensive scout network, I dont know.

Barca did belittle PSG. Thinking they could turn players against their club, forcing their way out.

But PSG is too strong for many reasons:

- Players are just employees to the Al Thani family. Al Thani has so much pride that he would prefer to let a player rot in a corner than bending to others as if he was a normal person. As I said many times, nasser is not the problem, Al Thani is.

- PSG falls under french laws, and while they pay way more taxes than in any other countries, there are lots of laws protecting them.

- PSG is rich as f*ck.

- The FFP had a side effect that people didn't seem to understand well. Since PSG can't buy players easily, they refuse to sell those they have already. It's logical. Even if they sell TS and Marquinhos, they couldn't find replacement of equal value for cheaper.

 

[Sumlit]

I'd say it is unique that we obsess about players from Arsenal and PSG. We dont see this type of strategy in other top clubs IMO. They go for younger players from leagues like Ligue 1, Dutch top division, Portugese league etc. Perhaps because they have a more extensive scout network, I dont know.

When you say Barca are obsessed with PSG and Arsenal players you make it sound worse than it is. From Arsenal, only Farbregas was pursued heavily, and the Masia roots explain why. Song was a dumb signing regardless of Arsenal or not. As for PSG, it's only been the foolish pursuit of Marquinhos and TS, and with good reason I might add, both are really good.

You want Barca to buy young players from inferior league, but that is not how Barca operate. Firstly, Barcelona has had La Masia churning good talent for a few years to suplement the young player pool, so they've had less of a need to buy those project players elsewhere. Secondly the team is competing every single year for every single trophy available, you don't do that with 20 year old from Ligue 1, Eredivisie, or Primeira Liga. Like I said, those are type of players you buy as projects, not as main players. You need established world class talent to compete.

Also, barca buy young players from La Liga instead. Rakitic, Alba, Alves. all from La Liga.

 

[Jombi]

Obsess? Hardly. Two players signed from Arsenal and two players chased from PSG in 5 years hardly obsessive.

By the way Man City have signed many more players from Arsenal than Barca have in recent years.

Vermaelen, Song, Cesc, Hleb. Thats four, and we are constantly linked to players from that club. Sure, they were considered safe transfers as they were already playing in a rich club and had played for many seasons at a top club, but I dont think we can say that it turned out well.

I think we need a more broad approach, where we go after players who can become greater at our club than they were in their previous club.

 

[JamDav1982]

Vermaelen, Song, Cesc, Hleb. Thats four, and we are constantly linked to players from that club. Sure, they were considered safe transfers as they were already playing in a rich club and had played for many seasons at a top club, but I dont think we can say that it turned out well.

I think we need a more broad approach, where we go after players who can become greater at our club than they were in their previous club.

Sorry forgot about Vermaelen but Hleb was signed under a different regime at Barca.

Barca have signed plenty of players that are young and they look to improve.

 

[Sumlit]

They are established as great players in their league and no, we are deluding ourselves when we think we can just go after household names from Chelsea, PSG and Bayern.

Buying young players who have established themselves as dominant in their leagues are the types of transfers that are the recipe for success. Going after Thiago Silvas from PSG or Jerome Boateng from Bayern is not a strategy that any sensible top club follow.

Jombi, Imbula has had only this season playing well. If you think that's establishing yourself, then Rafinha is established even more because he had a better season at Celta, playing in a better league. And you've seen how much he has struggled this year at Barca.
Veltman plays in the Eredivisie, and forgive me if I'm not jumping in excitement at an Eredivisie player performing well.

Those are not established players, sorry. They are young players who are showing good performances in their leagues, but they are not established.

 

[Jombi]

Jombi you are naming three players chased from top clubs in the last 5 years.

It is not the strategy to only go after these players but it is worthwhile to see if can get them as ALL top clubs do not just Barca.

Other clubs really dont try for months to get players who are important for rich clubs like PSG. I really fear that we will pull a marquinhos, silva and obsess about verratti soon. Why shouldnt we go after players who can develop into better players for us than they were at their previous club?

OK, so now we are rumoured to be after Darmian and Pjanic who are in the middle of their career. Do we honestly believe that these average players can become world class for us and be much better for us than they were in Italy? I just watched Pjanic play against Torino and he was so bad he was subbed. What can this guy give Barcelona?

 

[JamDav1982]

Other clubs really dont try for months to get players who are important for rich clubs like PSG. I really fear that we will pull a marquinhos, silva and obsess about verratti soon. Why shouldnt we go after players who can develop into better players for us than they were at their previous club?

OK, so now we are rumoured to be after Darmian and Pjanic who are in the middle of their career. Do we honestly believe that these average players can become world class for us and be much better for us than they were in Italy? I just watched Pjanic play against Torino and he was so bad he was subbed. What can this guy give Barcelona?

Yes they do.

Other top clubs have been trying for YEARS to get Messi and countless other top Barca players.

 

[Jombi]

Jombi, Imbula has had only this season playing well. If you think that's establishing yourself, then Rafinha is established even more because he had a better season at Celta, playing in a better league. And you've seen how much he has struggled this year at Barca.
Veltman plays in the Eredivisie, and forgive me if I'm not jumping in excitement at an Eredivisie player performing well.

Those are not established players, sorry. They are young players who are showing good performances in their leagues, but they are not established.

Imbula has been arguably the best player in one of the best teams in the league, and performed great in the CL as well, the same with Veltman, who has been a standout for Ajax in Europe and at home. I respect that you are not excited by this and maybe want guys like Jerome Boateng and Verratti from rich clubs. But its not going to happen. We need to use scouts and sign YOUNG players from smaller teams like other top teams do.

We are not going to be successful trying to get world class players from Chelsea, PSG and Bayern (your definition of established). Its just not going to happen.

 

[Jombi]

Yes they do.

Other top clubs have been trying for YEARS to get Messi and countless other top Barca players.

They dont use their entire transfer window trying to get Messi and when they realize Barca wont sell they dont have proper alternatives.

 

[JamDav1982]

They dont use their entire transfer window trying to get Messi and when they realize Barca wont sell they dont have proper alternatives.

Barca have done that with one player in Thiago Silva. That was an error no doubt.

But that has not been a 'strategy' year on year.

 

[DonAK]

Our transfer strategy has been pathetic the last years. Desperately been trying to sign Thiago Silva, a player who PSG always said they won't sell. We could have got him though, when he was in AC Milan. What did we do? We were sleeping.

And then the story repeated itself with Marquinhos. Had an absolutely brilliant season with Roma. We were linked with him and could've got him then. What did we do? We were sleeping. Or wait...We were once again that summer trying to sign Thiago Silva! PSG got him too.

And a year later we were chasing him too even though PSG were clear, NOT FOR SALE.

We signed Mathieu who was a good signing, I wanted him from the beginning, but who did we sign as the other CB? Someone who's yet to make his debut and with a bad record of injury proneness, and someone our medical team adviced against signing, but our genius sporting director overruled them.

 

[Sumlit]

Imbula has been arguably the best player in one of the best teams in the league, and performed great in the CL as well, the same with Veltman, who has been a standout for Ajax in Europe and at home. I respect that you are not excited by this and maybe want guys like Jerome Boateng and Verratti from rich clubs. But its not going to happen. We need to use scouts and sign YOUNG players from smaller teams like other top teams do.

We are not going to be successful trying to get world class players from Chelsea, PSG and Bayern (your definition of established). Its just not going to happen.

Not going to happen, yet it happens every single transfer window? Established world class players change teams multiple times in a transfer window. Suarez, di Maria, DL, James, Griezmann, and more just last summer. It's common.

Barca need to definitely do a better job scouting and acquiring young rising talent from lesser leagues to SUPPLEMENT (key word) they're big acquisitions. Supplement though, NOT replace. Barca needs world class talent playing for them, not taking on projects and hoping they pan out. That's how you get left behind in the competitions.

Taking a flyer at Veltman for €10-15m instead of Vermaelen? I understand this. But those are "rounding up" your summer window type of signings, not the main ones.

 

[Sumlit]

Barca's failure of late has been not signing good players when they've been desperately needed. Going after stars is not a failure, even if you don't get them. But you need to be able to have backup plans and contingencies. Going for and not getting the biggest names is not bad, you tried and it wasn't possible. Settling for lesser talent, or no talent at all afterwards was the actual failure.

With the mentality of not going for the big name in a big team were a thing, then Suarez would have never been bought. Yet he was, because the team went for him and he was available.

 

[Jombi]

Not going to happen, yet it happens every single transfer window? Established world class players change teams multiple times in a transfer window. Suarez, di Maria, DL, James, Griezmann, and more just last summer. It's common.

Barca need to definitely do a better job scouting and acquiring young rising talent from lesser leagues to SUPPLEMENT (key word) they're big acquisitions. Supplement though, NOT replace. Barca needs world class talent playing for them, not taking on projects and hoping they pan out. That's how you get left behind in the competitions.

Taking a flyer at Veltman for €10-15m instead of Vermaelen? I understand this. But those are "rounding up" your summer window type of signings, not the main ones.

I think we largely agree if you think guys like James and Griezmann are the type of players we should go for. These are exactly the guys I would consider great young players (in their early 20s) from smaller teams (Sociedad and Monaco) who had yet to play for a rich, big club and had the potential to become world class. I dont understand why we have let Real Madrid buy 3 great young midfielders in Isco, James and Kroos when it was us who needed a generational change in midfield after Xavi and Iniesta. We shouldnt have allowed that to happen.