If you could sign one of Sancho or Neymar for the LW positon, who would you sign?

[serghei]

I'd take Timo Werner over both tbh if he is available at around 80m.

 

[khaled_a_d]

I would prefer reinforcing midfield and defense and go for a striker in 2021.
Right now I think our best formation is with 4 midfielders, and 2 attackers. Whether that midfielder is pseudo-attacker on gameplan or not.
This frees both Messi and whoever beside him. We already have Messi,Suarez,Martin,Griezmann, Fati all surely in 1st team squad. Most likely one or more from Trincao,Dembele & Coutinho.
This is more than enough for attack atm, not perfect but no signing would change that dramatically either.
OTOH we have 3 midfielders who are 32 or older (Vidal/Raki/Busquets) that need to be phased out. A clear weakness at both RB & CB position and even LB will need new signing around 2021 most likely.
Getting a new attacker is cool, but it will be on the expense of other positions.

 

[serghei]

But the profile of midfielder we need is somehow not very obvious on the market right now. I see no viable names. Who's a type of midfielder who is young, great physically and scores goals? The chances of fucking up this transfer are huge, because we need a specific type of player.

I think Milnkovic Savic would be the best, but we'd be over 100m easily I think.

 

[mc_lovin]

Partey and Brozovic would be rather cheap (but probably not realistic)... I really dislike Ruiz (too expensive and just doesnt strike me as a great talent). I would be more than content with us just getting "bodies" in midfield for now (and not 1A transfers like Pogba for example).

 

[khaled_a_d]

But the profile of midfielder we need is somehow not very obvious on the market right now. I see no viable names. Who's a type of midfielder who is young, great physically and scores goals? The chances of fucking up this transfer are huge, because we need a specific type of player.

I think Milnkovic Savic would be the best, but we'd be over 100m easily I think.

-Regarding the profile, we are actually very flexible with the profile we need. Having only FDJ who is sure thing for next 3 years.
There is Savic,Ruiz, Aouar, Partey,Ndidi,Eduardo Camavinga & Kai Havertz. All are decent players to follow and see what we need, especially if we are going for 442, this gives us huge flexibility in picking our midfield. There is also a cheap stop gap ,albeit old, Thiago. I won't mind getting a young one and Thiago for next year.

-Regarding our attack, who is that sure thing either? Lautaro? Neymar? Werner? All have serious question marks. In addition it is even questionable if they fit here.
Neymar means we continue to play the pseudo 433, which would always make it harder for our midfield. Lautaro/Werner makes it a big possibility with continuing to have 3 attackers who provide no width.
In addition, it is very unlikely that with Lautaro/Neymar/Sancho here we would be able to spend big on defense either.
Unless we sell Griezmann or find some sucker who will pay 70M+ for Coutinho, I really don't like the idea of going after an attacker.

 

[serghei]

-Regarding the profile, we are actually very flexible with the profile we need. Having only FDJ who is sure thing for next 3 years.
There is Savic,Ruiz, Aouar, Partey,Ndidi,Eduardo Camavinga & Kai Havertz. All are decent players to follow and see what we need, especially if we are going for 442, this gives us huge flexibility in picking our midfield. There is also a cheap stop gap ,albeit old, Thiago. I won't mind getting a young one and Thiago for next year.

-Regarding our attack, who is that sure thing either? Lautaro? Neymar? Werner? All have serious question marks. In addition it is even questionable if they fit here.
Neymar means we continue to play the pseudo 433, which would always make it harder for our midfield. Lautaro/Werner makes it a big possibility with continuing to have 3 attackers who provide no width.
In addition, it is very unlikely that with Lautaro/Neymar/Sancho here we would be able to spend big on defense either.
Unless we sell Griezmann or find some sucker who will pay 70M+ for Coutinho, I really don't like the idea of going after an attacker.

We aren't going for the 4-4-2 long term. We might use it for now (if that), because we are short in personnel for the time being, especially on the wing, but the midfielders we bring have to be very comfortable playing in a 3.

Everybody has question marks if we take it like that. I have said in the past and I'm saying it now, I'm not a believer that you just buy players and they fit perfectly just like that. Maybe 1 in 10 signings has this sort of ideal fit, the generational talent. A team maybe manages to get 1 of these players in a couple of years. That is why I think the manager and the board are so important.

We need to look at player profile more. Imo, we have neglected this part and went for the wrong players style wise. Looking back, Dembele was sort of a next Neymar-wannabe signing. We thought he is the next Neymar, but the talent component in Neymar's game is huge. And is unmatched by Dembele's talent, which is good, but nowhere near Neymar.

What are the main qualities we need for our game? This will tell us what kind of players we need, while also having a very realistic understanding of our flaws, which are pretty clear. Look at Vidal, he is basically a has-been who is now a starter because he is strong where we are the weakest.

Basically we need players who are skilled in our way of playing and/or can bring something we don't have. For the first part, which is players who have a great fit with our style, we have Arthur and Frenkie de Jong. So we're set and well covered in terms of great midfielders on the ball. We badly need that 3rd midfielder who can balance our midfield and bring us what we lack. Which is tactical intelligence, good shooting and a great physical presence. Somebody who'd have a good burst of acceleration when a ball is lost and good stamina, and would be pressing hard to get the ball back. This will allow our on the ball midfielders to up the risk taking and try more penetrating passes, because this 3rd midfielder will have their back.

For example, we usually go for more star-like forwards who don't really work very hard off the ball. This means we can't afford to sign a very offensive midfielder who is also slacking off at this chapter. So no pure AM for me. Absolutely not. No Coutinho, Isco, Ozil types. At least not until Messi is gone. Based on my, admittedly limited viewing of Bundesliga games, I would discard Havertz because he is too offensive and not enough of an impact off the ball, in negative transition. Attack-defense transition is a very weak point of ours. So we need physical explosive players who would react very fast and aggressive on turnovers happening near them. Milinkovic Savic is great at this, Thomas Partey is very good, and Fabian Ruiz is also good. Don't follow French league and have no idea about Aouar and Camavinga.

Maybe we can look at it from a more statistic driven position. Make a list of players from the big leagues with the midfielders who have the highest km per game ran, high number of tackles and interceptions, good number of long range goals, good number of fouls per received yellow cards, good number of individual duels won, especially defensively. And other stats like that. Most of these informations are related to transition. A player who fouls a lot and receives few yellow cards (think Casemiro) can be an asset in defensive transition. A player who runs a lot has more chances to cover exposed areas in time. A player who scores from long range can save you on a bad day in a key game away in CL. A player who makes tackles and interceptions is vital in spilled balls and essential in counter pressing schemes (I imagine Milner and Henderson rank very high in most these areas, which is why they are very important despite obvious technical limitations - which were visible against the compact team of Atletico).

 

[khaled_a_d]

Everybody has question marks if we take it like that. I have said in the past and I'm saying it now, I'm not a believer that you just buy players and they fit perfectly just like that. Maybe 1 in 10 signings has this sort of ideal fit, the generational talent. A team maybe manages to get 1 of these players in a couple of years. That is why I think the manager and the board are so important.

We need to look at player profile more. Imo, we have neglected this part and went for the wrong players style wise. Looking back, Dembele was sort of a next Neymar-wannabe signing. We thought he is the next Neymar, but the talent component in Neymar's game is huge. And is unmatched by Dembele's talent, which is good, but nowhere near Neymar.

And this is what I was pointing to regarding our attack, Lautaro isn't a replacement of Suarez, for example Suarez is one of the elite players in his ability to play with his back to the goal. He can pass or make a dummy play etc. This is an area that make it easy for the rest of attack, every great attacking line had that type of no9, Suarez in MSN,Benzema with BBC and Firmino in Liverpool. He hasn't proven that much he can score much without a 9 in front of him either.
Neymar question marks is even bigger due to health,age, transfer fee & salary. Never mind history of Brazilian attackers not lasting that long.
Is there is a sure thing? No. But with Griezmann, Trincao & Braithwaite all recent signings, I would prefer not to take another risk in attack and go for midfield.

We aren't going for the 4-4-2 long term. We might use it for now (if that), because we are short in personnel for the time being, especially on the wing, but the midfielders we bring have to be very comfortable playing in a 3.

Most likely we aren't, which is a huge mistake IMO. It should be our way to play as long as Messi is a starter here. It isn't like we are playing a true 433 either.
Even then, all the names I mentioned are capable of playing in 433 too.
I think of Kai as more of b2b player. Though he is surely attack minded player

 

[Ahmedd]

None of them. I voted Neymar for nostalgia brain sometimes tend to forget bad things to focus on what have been good.

I would have gone for Nabil Fekir though. This player is so much underrated

 

[DonAK]

We've signed one winger in Trincao. I would sign Ferran Torres if he doesn't renew his contract, but we still need a LW that's great at attacking space and is a great dribbler.

We need someone apart from Messi who can take on players consistently.

So, it's time to bump this thread.

If not Sancho or Neymar, then who else? Because there's no way in hell I'm not signing a LW if I was in charge...

 

[kollegah]

Neymar- cause he is the only player he can bring back joy to Messis game

 

[LABarcaFan]

There is no question that Sancho is the better choice, but his price went up a lot. We don't need to pay 100+ millions for one player anymore.Plus, we have already Fr.Trincao at RW. For the same reason I don't support the signing of Lautaro. There is a lot cheaper, younger and talented players out there to fill the roster. So no to both of them.

 

[LABarcaFan]

In my opinion any realistic football fan when asked this question will answer immediately - J.Sancho, because he is 8 years younger and has the best assists ratio in all European Leagues ( 23 games - 14 goals - 16 assists ) and he would cost exactly 65 m. less than Neymar ( 15 games - 13 goals - 6 assists ) 175 mil. But do we need to invest 110 mil. in just one player, when we have so many other issues to address? I am sure, there are many good wingers who can be more useful than these two and will cost a lot less.

 

[LABarcaFan]

I'd take Timo Werner over both tbh if he is available at around 80m.

Timo Werner's release clause is just 60 mil. for this summer and he can play equally well as a striker or left winger.

I would prefer reinforcing midfield and defense and go for a striker in 2021.
Right now I think our best formation is with 4 midfielders, and 2 attackers. Whether that midfielder is pseudo-attacker on gameplan or not.
This frees both Messi and whoever beside him. We already have Messi,Suarez,Martin,Griezmann, Fati all surely in 1st team squad. Most likely one or more from Trincao,Dembele & Coutinho.
This is more than enough for attack atm, not perfect but no signing would change that dramatically either.
OTOH we have 3 midfielders who are 32 or older (Vidal/Raki/Busquets) that need to be phased out. A clear weakness at both RB & CB position and even LB will need new signing around 2021 most likely.
Getting a new attacker is cool, but it will be on the expense of other positions.

Very good point. I support it 100%.
This summer we need to address our needs in the back-court and midfield and next one we can take a look for new wings and strikers.