Barça's Transfers and Rumors

[JamDav1982]

I'm all for signing younger talent too, it doesn't make sense to keep signing all older players who you'll all have to replace at the same time in a few years. However, if we can't sign the young talent we need, or will fit us, then I rather not sign them. We have a couple of years of Messi at this best left, like he mentioned, I'd hope to get the best out of it. I don't think people realize how much of our recent success came down to Messi- we can buy young talent and build for the future, but it is unlikely that it will bring us the type of success we experienced under our #10.

Then again, I don't see many 21-23 year olds that would not only fit us, but improve us at this moment. The ones that would, are unattainable.

In theory the younger players should be coming from B team so unless top top class I dont think Barca will be making a lot of signings around 19-23 years old.

There needs to be a path left open for the younger players to come through.

 

[gasgas]

i like somewhat 23-26 year old players with experience. like
gundogan, veratti, laporte, ricardo rodriguez, alaba, that atletico CB,
etc.
young with experiencee


barca seems to like older players >28

 

[Topolino]

i like somewhat 23-26 year old players with experience. like
gundogan, veratti, laporte, ricardo rodriguez, alaba, that atletico CB,
etc.
young with experiencee


barca seems to like older players >28

Barto is afraid to buy anyone under 28 'cuz he doesn't want a ban from FIFA.
"child labour"

 

[Co0ter]

You can buy quality players that have at least 5 years or even a decade of top football in front of them and who are not only talents but proven players.
It can be a young superstar like Neymar but you obviously have to break the bank for guys like him. But there also guys like Rakitic, Alba, MAtS, maybe Vidal. Rather cheap players who are able to make an immediate impact and help the club for years.

No need to go for some 30 year old or even older guys no matter if prime or not. 27-28 years like Suarez or Arda should be max. for players that are brought in to have a starting spot.

It is different for goalkeepers or squad players of course (Bravo, Mathieu, Vermaelen etc.)

I'll have to disagree with you there. 27-28 year old players aren't players for the future. They are players for right now who are more towards the end of their prime than the beginning. Mathieu was like 30, the only truly older player we bought. Vermaelen, Suarez and Arda were all 28-29 when we bought them (Suarez turned 28 like 2 months after he could start playing for us). Like I mentioned, the only player we bought who was 30+ was Mathieu, so in your eyes I guess we've been doing great transfers...?

The other signings like Alba (23 I think) and Rakitic/Vidal (25) have been signed at a good age. The only signing, other than Douglas of course, I really regret is Vermaelen. I actually really like the guy, but we brought in Mathieu for experience (as well as height and speed) so there was no reason to bring another 28+ defender into the team, especially an injury prone one. A waste of 10mil, which could of been put towards a younger 25-35mil defender. At this point I think we all know Bartra just isn't good enough, despite him being likable and devout.

 

[Blaugrana Bull]

I'll have to disagree with you there. 27-28 year old players aren't players for the future. They are players for right now who are more towards the end of their prime than the beginning.Mathieu was like 30, the only truly older player we bought. Vermaelen, Suarez and Arda were all 28-29 when we bought them (Suarez turned 28 like 2 months after he could start playing for us). Like I said that only player we bought who was 30+ was Mathieu, so in your eyes I guess we've been doing great transfers...?

The other signings like Alba (23 I think) and Rakitic/Vidal (25) have been signed at a good age. The only signing, other than Douglas of course, I really regret is Vermaelen. I actually really like the guy, but we brought in Mathieu for experience (as well as height and speed) so there was no reason to bring another 28+ defender into the team, especially an injury prone one. A waste of 10mil, which could of been put towards a younger 25-35mil defender. At this point I think we all know Bartra just isn't good enough, despite him being likable and devout.

I think you misunderstood my post. 27-28 years is the max. age to sign (expensive) starters because in almost all cases you will only get 5 years max. of prime football from those guys. Not saying there are for the future.
Guys like Mathieu or Vermaelen are squad players to add depth and to help short term so it is ok when they are 30.

The names I mentioned are examples and I did not want to talk about our transfer policy in the last years but about my opinion on how to buy in the future.

Short summary: Do not buy star players who are older than 28 although up to 26 would be ideal. Squad players who are bought to make an immediate impact can be 30 or older. Young talents who show a lot of potential are always welcome, about 1/3 or 1/4 of the squad should consist of players under like 25.

Edit: For me the exact age is not that important btw. Every single player develops differently but the numbers are there to give a general idea.

 

[Co0ter]

In theory the younger players should be coming from B team so unless top top class I dont think Barca will be making a lot of signings around 19-23 years old.

There needs to be a path left open for the younger players to come through.

Exactly. We haven't had any class youngsters come through lately though, not since Thiago imo. Roberto is a squad player, a nice one to have. Rafinha just isn't good enough to me, same for Munir and Sandro. Our coach doesn't seem to believe in Denis Suarez and Deulofeu either. The only one that seems promising enough to break into the first team is Halilovic, and he is still on wait and see status (19). Also, we could of waited and let our strikers develop too...but we bought Neymar, and I don't think even the biggest Neymar hater can still deny him at this point.

It's tough because we have this pride in our youth, I have it too and I relished in it for quite a while. I enjoyed knowing that more often than not 7-8 of our players were homegrown. I also enjoyed winning the 2009/2011 Champion's League with 7 and 6 homegrown players starting...I often bragged about it to my friends (Arsenal and Chelsea fans....suck it).

However, if the talent isn't there...then what are we supposed to do? We can't expect to pump out players like this recent crop all the time. It's just difficult- you have to buy players when you don't see any interesting talent on the brink, and not buy players when you do. It's even more difficult when you let a player like Thiago go....or miss out on buying a young player, hoping that a particular homegrown player lives up to expectations and he doesn't.

All I know is that buying NO young players because of our B team isn't a valid option in the end.

 

[JamDav1982]

Exactly. We haven't had an class youngsters come through lately though, not since Thiago imo. Roberto is a squad player, a nice one to have. Rafinha just isn't good enough to me, same for Munir and Sandro. Our coach doesn't seem to believe in Denis Suarez and Deulofeu either. The only one that seems promising enough to break into the first team is Halilovic, and he is still on wait and see status (19). Also, we could of waited and let our strikers develop too...but we bought Neymar, and I don't think even the biggest Neymar hater can still deny him at this point.

It's tough because we have this pride in our youth, I have it too and I relished in it for quite a while. I enjoyed knowing that more often than not 7-8 of our players were homegrown. I also enjoyed winning the 2009/2011 Champion's League with 7 and 6 homegrown players starting...I often bragged about it to my friends (Arsenal and Chelsea fans....suck it).

However, if the talent isn't there...then what are we supposed to do? We can't expect to pump out players like this recent crop all the time. It's just difficult- you have to buy players when you don't see any interesting talent on the brink, and not buy players when you do. It's even more difficult when you let a player like Thiago go....or miss out on buying a young player, hoping that a particular homegrown player lives up to expectations and he doesn't.

All I know is that buying NO young players because of our B team isn't a valid option in the end.

Barca have not been buying NO young players.

Ter Stegen, Neymar, Halilovic all bought in recent seasons.

They have to leave a path open for B team players and I would hate if they started stocking up on young players at the expense of that.

 

[Co0ter]

Barca have not been buying NO young players.

Ter Stegen, Neymar, Halilovic all bought in recent seasons.

They have to leave a path open for B team players and I would hate if they started stocking up on young players at the expense of that.

I don't really count Mats or Halilovic. Halilovic was bought specifically to join the B team and develop him- he wasn't even 18 yet when we bought him. Mats was the new, young GK since Valdez decided to leave- every big team tries to do this because they know when they get a good one, they keep him for basically an entire career. They didn't show too much faith in him though, considering they decided to buy a 31 year old starter at his peak to contend with him for the starting position.

Neymar was the only young talent, other than Alba, bought to be integrated directly into the first team. Rakitic was already 25, not really a young and upcoming talent.

 

[JamDav1982]

I don't really count Mats or Halilovic. Halilovic was bought specifically to join the B team and develop him- he wasn't even 18 yet when we bought him. Mats was the new, young GK since Valdez decided to leave- every big team tries to do this because they know when they get a good one, they keep him for basically an entire career. They didn't show too much faith in him though, considering they decided to buy a 31 year old starter at his peak to contend with him for the starting position.

Neymar was the only young talent, other than Alba, bought to be integrated directly into the first team. Rakitic was already 25, not really a young and upcoming talent.

If there are world class starters at 22/23 the club would move for them.

They are unlikely to go for too many punts on squad players at that age due to B team players.

There are barely any players of 23 and under that would improve squad just now anyway. It is not an old squad.

 

[Jombi]

I don't really count Mats or Halilovic. Halilovic was bought specifically to join the B team and develop him- he wasn't even 18 yet when we bought him. Mats was the new, young GK since Valdez decided to leave- every big team tries to do this because they know when they get a good one, they keep him for basically an entire career. They didn't show too much faith in him though, considering they decided to buy a 31 year old starter at his peak to contend with him for the starting position.

Neymar was the only young talent, other than Alba, bought to be integrated directly into the first team. Rakitic was already 25, not really a young and upcoming talent.

I agree. Rakitic is 27 I believe and was bought last summer.

We can't let all the other big clubs pick the best players in the early 20s while we continue to try to buy players who cant believe that we are actually interested in them.

I dont really consider 22 or 23 year old "talents". They have plenty of experience and we can keep them for a decade at the highest level. If we have a great 18 year old in the B team, then if they are truly good, they will get their chance. Competition is good and there is no one who would deny us the right to sell a 26 year old because a 22 year old La Masia player has proven to be even better. We dont have to always rely on players reaching retirement age for great la masia players to get their chance. Just look at Busquets. We sold Yaya Toure who was around 26 at the time.

 

[JamDav1982]

I agree. Rakitic is 27 I believe and was bought last summer.

We can't let all the other big clubs pick the best players in the early 20s while we continue to try to buy players who cant believe that we are actually interested in them.

I dont really consider 22 or 23 year old "talents". They have plenty of experience and we can keep them for a decade at the highest level. If we have a great 18 year old in the B team, then if they are truly good, they will get their chance. Competition is good and there is no one who would deny us the right to sell a 26 year old because a 22 year old La Masia player has proven to be even better. We dont have to always rely on players reaching retirement age for great la masia players to get their chance. Just look at Busquets. We sold Yaya Toure who was around 26 at the time.

What other clubs are picking up all the best young talents?

 

[gasgas]

Barto is afraid to buy anyone under 28 'cuz he doesn't want a ban from FIFA.
"child labour"

25 year old children like Gundogan should only sign under parental supervision

 

[khaled_a_d]

As I said b4 ,they key for me is Espai Barca and the financial situation with it
I don't think we will be in trouble financially ,but I don't think we will be able to make many "galactico" signings like Neymar & Suarez

We already have good youth system ,though recently it has been providing more squad players than Superstars
We also buy many young prospects like Halilovic ,D.Suarez,Ie,Gumbau all come to mind as B team signings in the last few years . Ie already left,we have buy back option on Suarez .with the current rumors I think we will keep this policy .I don't mind it tbh .it seems that it will be the new trend in big clubs btw

I think La Masia and old players -whether cheaply bought or those from the team- can provide us with good squad players .like now we have Bartra,Roberto,Rafinha,Mathieu ,Adriano(he isn't good any more and the list goes on

The biggest issue is the starting line up ,right now only Neymar is under 26 ,and MATS is probably a future starter too
As I mentioned ,with Espai Barca I think we will need to buy smartly .for me I think when we buy someone to be a starter ,he should be able to play at least 5-6 year on high level .so doesn't need to be replaced b4 the project is over

That doesn't necessarily mean to buy 21-23 years old players ,but as gasgas mentioned ,players around the age of 22 to 26
for example next year it seem a good CB is needed ,I don't simply want the club to try to go for Koscielny or Godin (just examples in top of my head,considering we love Arsenal & Liga players) but rather the likes of Mustafi or Laporte who will be 24&22 respectively

 

[DonAK]

but rather the likes of Mustafi or Laporte who will be 24&22 respectively

You're welcome back in the Laporte thread

 

[khaled_a_d]

You're welcome back in the Laporte thread