Barça's Transfers and Rumors

[gasgas]

But the fact remains that the weakest part of our team right now is the defense, especially now that Dani is gone and Masche could leave as well. This summer we need to splash the cash on a world class CB not Pogba. Iniesta is aging yes, but he won't need to be replaced next season already will he? And next summer we can look into it again but I'm telling you a 100 million for Pogba is too much. He's good but I'm certain we could get a similar player for much cheaper and next summer there will probably be young midfielders on the radar that we don't even know right now.



The difference with Suarez though was that we just sold Alexis, which made a spot available in the team and gave us money for the transfer. We needed an attacking player immediately. Also other clubs weren't actively chasing Suarez, we were the front runners for him from the beginning. However with our midfield, we currently have Iniesta, Busquets and Rakitic, will Pogba immediately bench one of them? I don't think so, he'd need to start as a squad player and if paid 100 million for him to sit on the bench, can you imagine the outcry? Also pretty much every big club out there is chasing Pogba and like it or not, unless Pogba declares that he wants to play for Barca only, we can't compete with the likes of Real and Chelsea etc. They'll simply offer him more money and he'll go there. We need to spend on a world class CB this summer and next summer we need to focus on the midfield, but I think by then whole new players have appeared on the radar for big clubs and we can get one of them, probably for much cheaper than 100 million...

for me the midfield is just as weak as our defence.
and a weakness in midfield is worse than defence.
an excellent midfield can make the team thrive even when defence and attack are abyssmal

 

[Jombi]

as I told you,
for me, good enough is player who can start a classico in place of Adriano/Song in the examples I gave

I don't think identifying such players is that hard that I need to watch 70 matches a season, read !million scouting reports
Players that are that good will always be discovered and talked about.
you will always hear and be directed to watch players who are that good

No one talks about Lemon and Vietnam except you though. Forget about Thiago Silva or whoever pricy target you want as 5th choice CB. We have a fixed budget and anyone we sign for big money as backup defender will be taken from our funds for midfielder/forward. Its about priorities.

 

[akaranzo]

for me the midfield is just as weak as our defence.
and a weakness in midfield is worse than defence.
an excellent midfield can make the team thrive even when defence and attack are abyssmal

The back up players for our midfield are weak. However Iniesta, Busquets and Rakitic are world class midfielders and absolute key players in our starting lineup.

 

[ThwiX]

The back up players for our midfield are weak. However Iniesta, Busquets and Rakitic are world class midfielders and absolute key players in our starting lineup.

Iniesta will be 33 next summer. Still great if rested, but not getting any younger and his consistency is a problem. It would be perfect timing to buy Pogba while Iniesta can do what Xavi did last season and hopefully leave on a high. Rakitic is great, but not quite world class, IMO. A great and needed workhorse for Messi, that I can agree with. Nobody is talking about Busi here. His quality and importance is undisputed.

 

[Jombi]

This is what we must be prepared for IMO in this market, based on how rich their current club is and their level:

Pogba= 150m+50m add-ons (or perhaps 120+80)
Umtiti=30m
Fabinho=25m
Mustafi=55m
Koulibaly=45m
Murillo=35m
Veltman=15m
Tah=50m
Boufal=40m

 

[akaranzo]

Iniesta will be 33 next summer. Still great if rested, but not getting any younger and his consistency is a problem. It would be perfect timing to buy Pogba while Iniesta can do what Xavi did last season and hopefully leave on a high. Rakitic is great, but not quite world class, IMO. A great and needed workhorse for Messi, that I can agree with. Nobody is talking about Busi here. His quality and importance is undisputed.

Iniesta can definitely still handle a full season. Next summer is the time to start looking for a replacement for him. If we buy Pogba this summer, it would literally mean that we can't afford anyone else, at least nobody with enough quality to be a starter on our team, which would mean that we go into the next season with our defenders being Pique, Alba, Mathieu, Vidal, Sergi Roberto, Vermaelen (if he doesn't get sold) and Mascherano (if he stays). Now that defense frankly looks absolutely dire. The only real starting lineup quality players there are Pique, Alba and Mascherano.

In my opinion Vermaelen should probably be sold since we can't count on him not being injured 85% of the season and Mathieu shouldn't really get near the starting lineup. We need a CB and a young RB who can cover for LB as well because Adriano is definitely not good enough and is also probably leaving. While our midfield will be fine for at least the next season, I agree that we should get one more player there but more of a young squad player, who could replace Iniesta in a season or two not a 100 million player who needs to be starting immediately.

 

[ThwiX]

Iniesta can definitely still handle a full season. Next summer is the time to start looking for a replacement for him.

I have been talking about next summer all along. I know he isn't coming this summer. That's why I said Iniesta will be 33 next summer.

 

[Jombi]

Relying on Iniesta next season might be a big risk. We have no clue if he'll decline sharply because of age. If he does, we have to make sure we are well covered. Thats why it might be a good idea to buy a LB or CB who can play RB in case Roberto has to permanently play in midfield. Just to reduce the risk we face with a rapid decline of Iniesta. The jury is still out on Rafa, Denis, Arda.

 

[gasgas]

the thing is:
I don't see any RB in the market better than sergi Roberto
leave aside a few bad games towards the end of the season e.g vs Valencia, and he is miles ahead better than bellerin, fabinho etc
i would replace him for any of those RBs

so the gap in midfield is even bigger

 

[akaranzo]

the thing is:
I don't see any RB in the market better than sergi Roberto
leave aside a few bad games towards the end of the season e.g vs Valencia, and he is miles ahead better than bellerin, fabinho etc
i would replace him for any of those RBs

so the gap in midfield is even bigger

Uhh definitely don't agree with that. I think that even Vidal is ahead of Sergi right now... While Sergi gave some good performances at RB he'll never be a true RB because he's been a midfielder for most of his career. We can have him as a back up for that position but definitely not as our main RB.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Uhh definitely don't agree with that. I think that even Vidal is ahead of Sergi right now... While Sergi gave some good performances at RB he'll never be a true RB because he's been a midfielder for most of his career. We can have him as a back up for that position but definitely not as our main RB.

players like Alba,Mascherano,Mathieu,Vidal were all playing different position than they are now for most of their careers

 

[gasgas]

Uhh definitely don't agree with that. I think that even Vidal is ahead of Sergi right now... While Sergi gave some good performances at RB he'll never be a true RB because he's been a midfielder for most of his career. We can have him as a back up for that position but definitely not as our main RB.

I disagree completely

 

[xXKonan]

Mathieu started out his career as a Winger/LB in France and at Valencia he was converted into a CB and he's done well since the change.

Mascherano was originally a DM but made the switch to CB.

Theirs many cases of players making a complete switch to a different position and excelling at it. Roberto could be one of those players, who can make the Jump from being a CM to Right Back.

 

[Co0ter]

This is what we must be prepared for IMO in this market, based on how rich their current club is and their level:

Pogba= 150m+50m add-ons (or perhaps 120+80)
Umtiti=30m
Fabinho=25m
Mustafi=55m
Koulibaly=45m
Murillo=35m
Veltman=15m
Tah=50m
Boufal=40m

Pogba is not being sold for 200 mil, not even with add ons.

 

[Total-Football]

We are slowly becoming a real madrid clone with this galactico chasing.. this is not what made love barca at first place.