01/26/2024 Act. at 18:37 CET
Getting the signings right is one of the keys for sporting results to be as expected. Since Laporta returned to the presidency of Barça in 2021, the Blaugrana club has had six markets to hire players that raise the football level of the squad. The economic legacy and the difficulties of the financial fair-play imposed by La Liga have made operations difficult to reinforce the team. In total 260 million have been invested in 24 transfers. Could these 260 million have been invested more wisely?
There are three seasons in which president Joan Laporta and Barça’s top football officials (Mateu Alemany, Jordi Cruyff and Deco) They have had to make filigrees to try to strengthen the team. There have been many meritorious operations at zero cost, transfers and signings with a lower cost but of These 24 operations highlight five signings that represent 91% of the investment which are precisely some of the signings with the most debatable performance.
Could the funds have been better invested? 58 million that Raphinha cost or the 55 that Barça paid for Ferran? Does the decision of pay for Koundé 50 million or by Lewandowski 45 million was the most accurate? And surely the most complicated question is whether it could be having prioritized Messi’s continuity before activating levers to bet on signings whose performance was a complete unknown.
Fiction football
One of the players most desired by Xavi in these last transfer windows has been Bernard Silva. Barça has tried but has not been able to complete this operation. Analyzing the performance of the Portuguese in recent seasons Having invested 75 million for Bernardo would have been a more than interesting signing for Barça.
In the center forward position, Manchester City has invested successfully 55 million in Haaland and 50 in Julián Álvarez, two operations that in Barcelona’s key any culé would have signed. Either of the two would have meant for Barça an injection of talent and future projection. Xavi showed interest in the Norwegian, but City was able to complete an operation that would have been a coup for Barça.
In any case players like Lautaro Martínez or Vlahovic could have supposed operations with greater travel. By Vlahovic, Juventus paid 75 million, a figure for which Inter would have transferred their star forward for Barça.
Zubimendi and other options on the market
It must be taken into account that in addition to the significant cost that transfers entail, lSalaries represent a truly decisive added difficulty. Retain Messi in 2021 or recover him in 2023 It would not have involved any investment in the transfer but it would have involved in the salary bill.. There is another football fiction option which is to have invested all these amounts in a Mbappé style super signing in which the economic cost is transferred to the signing bonus and astronomical salary from French.
To reinforce the midfield and replace Sergio Busquets, Xavi’s number 1 option was Martín Zubimendiwhose cost was 60 million of the termination clause. Barças could not assume this figure last summer due to the extraordinary effort he had to make in the previous course.
Koundé’s performance this season causes many Barcelona fans question whether the 50 million for the Frenchman are well investedIn any case, the age of the central defender helps Barça can recover this investment in the future in case you want to sell it. Other interesting options offered by the market included, for example, bet on the leader of the world champion Argentina. Tottenham signed Cuti Romero for 50 million, an amount for which Barça could have signed a defender recommended by Messi.
In any case it seems obvious that if we add the cost of Raphinha and Ferran’s operations Barça could have prioritized hiring a world-class player that marked the differences. Having La Masia can allow you be more selective when making investments for upper-middle class profiles and trust everything to TOP-5 world players who really make a difference.
It must also be recognized that On Mondays we all get the pool right and that getting the signings right is a very difficult science that no one manages to master virtuously. What we have to try, as in the field, is to minimize errors.
2024-01-26 16:58:56
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