Busquets replacement

[wisconsincule]

That Redondo fella looks great, if that's his usual level. Basically agile and athletic Busquets with the same fancy moves.

Sign this guy up.

Our new move can be investing in young DMs the way that we were signing young promising CBs. Easy way to make a small profit if they dont work out and maybe strike gold like we did with Araujo.

 

[BJJ]

Think we will try to get a cheap option like Amrabat, who can do the basics of the job, get Gundogan who can allow Frenkie to play more DM (as Gundogan provides depth for his position), try Eric for some games there, and sign a youngester like Diaz and hope he surprises.

It isn't going to be ideal, but will allow us to cover for the position the same way we did this year at RB

How is Amrabat cheap? Fiorentina are asking for 25 million. No way we pay 5hat for him. I like him but we will have to play a double pivot for sure and I don't know if he's a good fit. Plus Xavi doesn't rate him. We absolutely have to get the DM transfer right. All of our transfers barring Christensen have been underwhelming. I place the blame on Xavi. The man is clueless.

 

[BJJ]

Would also consider Paredes on loan as a short stop gap seeing how PSG don't want him on the team for whatever reason.

Yeah ,Paredes would be a decent option.

 

[BJJ]

Eric Garcia?

Should we really be allowing Xavi and his brother to spend more money that we do not have?

He already has a squad good enough to challenge for the champion’s league. Yes, if fucking Inter can do it, so can we. But not under Xavi.

So let him complete his last year in his contract with this squad, and replace him with someone who is proven.

No need to spend a fortune on machinery for someone who does not know how to operate it.

I've been saying the same thing. I believe our squad is better than Inters. The blame for our dire European performances lies with Xavi but Laporta has given him the keys to 6club, sadly.

 

[khaled_a_d]

How is Amrabat cheap? Fiorentina are asking for 25 million. No way we pay 5hat for him. I like him but we will have to play a double pivot for sure and I don't know if he's a good fit. Plus Xavi doesn't rate him. We absolutely have to get the DM transfer right. All of our transfers barring Christensen have been underwhelming. I place the blame on Xavi. The man is clueless.

25M is almost half the price of any alternative, and Xavi rates Amrabat, just not obsessed with him like he does with Zubimendi.

 

[JamDav1982]

Paredes would not be a good option.

Far too inconsistent and while can zing and strike a ball he makes far too many mistakes.

 

[Messigician]

They're asking for 40m not 25m

 

[ajnotkeith]

It's difficult without a lot of money..in hindsight, not spending that money on Ferran and Raphinha and putting it all into a top DM candidate like Rice would have been ideal. But hindsight is 20/20.

The problem is, there is not many obvious solutions on the market. The few that are 'proven' or consensus top talents will cost huge amounts of money.

Everyone there is basically a gamble, so we will have to roll the dice in some way on someone, whether that be Zubimendi, Amrabat, Redondo etc.

Brozovic could be a really good option for a couple years, very cheap for his level and could improve on Busquets even.

 

[ajnotkeith]

I should add, it isn't impossible that we could improve without replacing Busquets at all. We are adding Gundogan and there are many ways to make a midfield work without needing a single pivot type midfielder.

But it would take a big scheme change from Xavi and I don't think he has the inclination to do that having always insisted on Busquets as a DM.

 

[Porque]

It's difficult without a lot of money..in hindsight, not spending that money on Ferran and Raphinha and putting it all into a top DM candidate like Rice would have been ideal. But hindsight is 20/20.

The problem is, there is not many obvious solutions on the market. The few that are 'proven' or consensus top talents will cost huge amounts of money.

Everyone there is basically a gamble, so we will have to roll the dice in some way on someone, whether that be Zubimendi, Amrabat, Redondo etc.

Brozovic could be a really good option for a couple years, very cheap for his level and could improve on Busquets even.

It's also crazy to not plan for a Busquets replacement given he has been wanting out for a number of seasons.

Now we have reached the position where getting a hot prospect (let's assume Fabricio Diaz is that) is that an option as stepping right into 11 is a recipe for disaster. So we need both a stop gap and a future replacement, with little finds for one yet alone both. Yikes.

As you say, hindsight is 20/20, but from where we sit today having Kounde play as RB, maybe we should have gone out put that 60m on fckn Zubimendi.

 

[khaled_a_d]

It's difficult without a lot of money..in hindsight, not spending that money on Ferran and Raphinha and putting it all into a top DM candidate like Rice would have been ideal. But hindsight is 20/20.

The problem is, there is not many obvious solutions on the market. The few that are 'proven' or consensus top talents will cost huge amounts of money.

Everyone there is basically a gamble, so we will have to roll the dice in some way on someone, whether that be Zubimendi, Amrabat, Redondo etc.

Brozovic could be a really good option for a couple years, very cheap for his level and could improve on Busquets even.

It is difficult to replace every quality player tbh.
Any proven WC player in any position, will cost at least 50M at your lucky day. That is what Kounde cost us, and he was the closest thing to proven commodity when we signed him as Pique's replacement.

At the end of the day, you must take calculated gambles, there is no way around it.
Whether it is a short stop gap, a free agent with question marks, a good player who hasn't been tested enough at top level or an overpriced player, or maybe a young one.

Last summer, every transfer we had, had many question marks, but other than the last day free signings (Alonso & Bellerin) I would say each one of them improved the team, and played integral part of our Liga title run (maybe with the exception of Kessie) .

It won't be easy to replace Busquets, but the market is full of good players at the right age who are starters in European top flight who are ready for next step (Ugarte, Zubimendi, Amrabat, Florentino Luis, Neves, Caicedo, Rice) or younger players (Redondo, Lucas Gourna-Douth, Diaz, Latvia, Ugochukwu, Varela , Vermeeren etc) and some veterans like Brozovic or Kante.
I don't know how good many of those names btw, and many of them I don't like.
But it is up to the club to get the player who can improve us with our financial abilities.

And tbh, I trust current board to do so, but I don't trust them to get the best option.

 

[JamDav1982]

Christensen was the Pique replacement and Kounde was always going to end up being RB on the players they signed.

They should have replaced Busquets before Raphinha or Kounde and before spening huge money on a 34 year old striker.

 

[Javier Zanetti - fraud]

Christensen was the Pique replacement and Kounde was always going to end up being RB on the players they signed.

They should have replaced Busquets before Raphinha or Kounde and before spening huge money on a 34 year old striker.

I am PrinceofMacedonia JamDay I made a new account because I believe everyone deserves a second chance.Anyway,I will miss the hell out of Busi.I was one of the 1% of humans who defended him after Inter cheating.

 

[jamrock]

Not buying raphinha & instead a DM, equals no la Liga.

That's just a matter of fact.

Club wasn't going to spend big on a DM, when they knew busquets would be the stater.


You have limited resources you have to make choices.


The only player we shouldn't have bought is Torres, but we can't get every transfer right, doesn't work like that.

 

[DonAK]

Which CDM would we have signed instead of Raphinha anyway? Zubimendi? The guy literally didn't want to leave and might take some convincing this summer too if we have the funds to go after him.

Tchouaméni? Would probably still go to Real Madrid who paid 80m + 20m in potential add-ons for him.

Declan Rice wouldn't cost less than 100m either if I had to guess.