With Keita now leaving, who should be signed?

[Banana-Rama]

good luck to the lad....

 

[Cruijffista]

Yeah..and RM played catenaccio.
Athletic plays more phisycall, more direct than Barca and using a man marking system, unlike Pep that used zonal marking..not to mention that they use a true no.9 and their right winger has complete liberty on the field.
http://www.whoscored.com/Blog/eq9vmf0fre-zsimeobkdig/Show/

I wonder what team plays the same..



They were heavily linked because Pep spent a day with Bielsa before deciding to become a coach..and the press kept saying that they were friends although that was the first and the last time that they saw each other outside of a football pitch.



Just like Cesc. Oh wait..

I don't have anything against Javi Martinez, but paying for him anything more than 25 million euros when we sold Yaya for the same price it would be a bad deal for Barca.

Yaya's deal really has nothing to do with any potential deal for Martinez, though.

 

[Aryagorn]

logic dictates that it would be for best to buy Romeu back(mind you we might need not even have to pay 10M for him) and bring in a cheap ass CB like Dede/Vertonghen

But Javi Martinez

I voted for Romeu + CB, coz Romeu is an awesome DM and in case the cheap ass CB turns out a dud he could be converted to a CB too, even though he's slow as fcuk he's done decently in B playing at CB. At least the mid field would be sorted for years

 

[Barcaman]

Nice thread.
Since Mascherano is natural DM, I think we should get a CB. Problem is, all of our targets that seem to have enough quality are out of reach.
Hummels and Thiago Silva signed new contracts and Martinez isn't likely to move.

If I had to choose, I'd pick Vertonghen, but I don't he's on Zubi's shortlist and Tottenham are now very close to signing him.

 

[FiReFTW]

Someone explain me why do we need another CB ??
We have pique, puyol (who said he wants to play football untill 40), masch as first choice options.. Also, Abidal from January on, after recovering - and you all know he will - and of course the youngsters Fontas and Bartra for gradually playing more..
Why are we after another player there?
The only defensive gap we had was a LB. With Alba the gap is closed.

Now that Keita left, we only need a sub for Busquets.. Javi martinez is a young and great player. It will be too much for him to be a sub and play as many minutes as Keita played last season..

Of course we need a CB.

Pique ok.

Puyol is old and more and more injury prone, we can not only expect him to decline in skill but also we can expect frequent injuries.

Mascherano is ok, but he is a natural DM, good rotation option for DM, aswell as CB.

Abidal? please be serious, Abidal is finished, even if he returns he will be a shadow of his former self, you seem to not realize how serious his situation was and what he is going trough now.

 

[Deco 20]

Deco said "What's important is that any eventual CB we buy has some pace, good technique and speaks Spanish or a similar language in order to integrate seemlessly." That sounds like an endorsement for Javi Martinez to me.

But Martinez is pretty slow... Bartra is much faster, and I do think he should be given the chance.

 

[Aryagorn]

Martinez is pretty fast

 

[Fourteen]

Obvious choice is obvious...

 

[Deco 20]

Martinez is pretty fast

He's no Mascherano or Jeffren

 

[VoidPg]

guys, please, 40 millions?! i would rather buy Ivanovic from Chelsea for that money

 

[Clockwise]

I voted Oriol Romeu. with CB or without CB. Young lad, knows our system, bright future, offering enough Iron and physical presence in the midfield, awesome tackles, great timing, great ball distribution, intelligent, enough confidence and leadership to be controlling a midfield. Just think about him training with Busi, IMO he has the potential to get even better than Busi himself. here's the challenge: Imagine Thiago and him in a midfield and try not to drool all over it.

 

[mixer]

Martinez isn't likely to move.

mundodeportivo and sport says that he wants to leave Athletic.. "Martinez takes into account the interest of Bayern Monachum, however, makes no secret of his desire to play in Barcelona"

 

[Ryan_Cule]

We need a long-term replacement of Puyol . We don't need a CB for 2-3 seasons and then sell him and get a new CB all over again . No for that . We need a CB who will stay at Barca for long and would be a stable replacement of Puyol , one who will give the back-line confidence and will adapt to our games quickly.


Zubi has said on numerous occasions(including last season) that Barca is interested in Martinez .I think Pep & Tito both suggested the same name to Zubi . Thiago Silva was a pretty much closed chapter .I have been saying this from the beginning . If Tito continues to push for Martinez then we are signing him this season . As for tv3 , we hold talks with his agent even last week . But they are saying , some other parties are also involved. But then again , Javi , himself made it clear long time back that he is very happy with the offers from barca and he wants to move to barca if it is possible.

 

[xaviniesta]

why is everybody so fond of that masche is still a 'natural DMF'??? he was bought as a DMF but turned into a monster when he played in defence and so be it. pique was raised as a DMF but now is a defender, alba was a striker and no we bought him as a full back, alexis is a pure striker but has played at least 5-6 different positions. seriously...


as for the poll, javi martinez, but 40m is pretty much i have to say.

 

[Ryan_Cule]

If we are settling for a CB for long-time like I said , a replacement of Puyol, then 40M is not huge . It will be huge and a mistake if we sell Javi Martinez after 1-2 seasons . We need a stable investment.