How good is Davinson Sanchez? I recall a lot of hype around Balanta when he was at river plate a few years ago and he has not quite lived up to it. Is Sanchez better than Balanta? Personally out of the young Colombian cb I quite like Jeison Murillo
Given our limited budget and need for a starting RB and our fascination with a high quality attacking midfielder I don't see us adding a CB as well, other than the promotion of Marlon as 4th CB, Masch is 3rd, Pique and Umtiti start. Down the road we seem to have a deal in place or a right of first refusal on Yerry Mina after the 2018 World Cup. Barcelona have extended an option they have to sign Palmeiras centre-back Yerry Mina until after the World Cup in Russia in 2018. Barca would otherwise have had to make a decision on whether they wanted to exercise their right to buy Mina for €9 million this summer. However, talks between the two clubs in Barcelona this week have led to a new deal that allows the Blaugrana a preferential option on the Colombia international for a further year. http://www.espnfc.us/story/3065555/...n-on-palmeiras-defender-yerry-mina-until-2018 If Barca signed a big name CB like Laporte then they likely lose not just Mathieu and Vermaelen but also Mascherano. Masch is OK playing 3rd CB with perhaps some time starting in 3 CB lineups, or at RB, or DM, as well as spelling Pique and Umtiti. But he has said he may ask to leave (for River Plate or a lucrative payday in China if he appears to be 4th CB or lower and not have a clear role). I think Masch can still contribute for another year so that's one more reason not to spend money on a CB. In 2018 add Mina, Masch leaves, still have 4 CBs provided Marlon and Mina fit in.
They love him at Ajax. Ruud Gullitt compared him to Jaap Stam. The Premier League are circling because his physical qualities are ideal. He is an extremely determined and hard working player who is not scared of the ball. Ajax are teaching everyone how to do it again at the moment, so I think he will be an inspired signing for whomever gets him. The fire seems to be too hot to keep him at Ajax another season.
Marlon's loan to barca from fluminense ends at the end of the season dosn' t it? Or have we purchased him outright
No way Barca will keep Mathieu and many sources saying Masch is leaving so if this is true then Barca will end up with 3 CBs only Pique, Umtiti and Marlon as the third option.
We have the right to purchase him outright and some reports say that we already paid most of the money in January as I think there was a clause where if he played more than 5 first team matches before we exercised the option to purchase him then the price went up. We knew we wanted him and most of the money (6M Euros IIRC) was already owed to us as we had options on 3 players and two wound up elsewhere. So basically we'd already paid 4M to them. The only question seemed to be would he be better off loaned out at another Liga side where he could potentially start, or fight for minutes in first team. http://www.espnfc.us/story/3127340/marlon-santos-to-wrap-up-permanent-barcelona-transfer-agent As for Mathieu and Verm they should both be sold but won't fetch much unfortunately (in transfer fees), but Masch should stay for one more year, he is a warrior and a great player to have on our squad. Then in 2018 we bring in the huge Colombian Yerry Mina and Masch goes to China or River Plate.
Yes, I thought I was very clear about the likelihood of getting rid of Mathieu and Verm. But from what I have read Masch will likely stay if we only add a player like Marlon, but wants to leave if we add a Marquinhos or Laporte type of expensive CB player.
Yes, I agree with you if Masch decided to stay but I have to stress that it will be an opportunity loss to not buy Davinson now while he is still relatively cheap. It took us some years to find the right CB Umtiti and we are linked to Davinson before moving to Ajax but he refused our offer understandably. He didn't want to play in the third division with Barca B. We had so many bad signings so I would assume the board will try to make a statement this summer spending big to buy RB, CM and CB and sell many dead weights.
I think we overspent our budget last summer (mainly on Gomes but we also paid a bunch for Alcacer (while letting Sandro go and loaning Munir out), added a young somewhat expensive back up goalie when veterans were available for less money, added a Left Back but not a Right Back, etc.). BUT we signed Umtiti for a bargain price after striking out on every CB since we brought Pique back and signed Marquez from Ligue 1. So I think that they plan to spend less net this summer, the figure I have seen is 60M Euros plus whatever we get in sales. The trouble is Barca rarely gets offered much in transfer fees. There are exceptions of course, Cesc, Alexis, Pedro, and Yaya all brought in good money. I could see us getting good money if we sold Arda. Not sure we get much at all for Mathieu or Verm. If Masch went to China we'd get something hopefully, but I could also see us letting him go on a free as we did with Xavi. Not sure who else we sell. Seems too early to give up on signings from last summer, plus we take a big accounting hit if you sign a player for 30 and then sell him for 20 just a year later, then you take a 10M hit spread over just one season. Better to give the player another year to acclimate which also lets you spread the loss over two seasons. Also it depends on the new coach, there were players in Lucho's doghouse who might thrive under a new coach. A new CM could take all of the 60M (for a Verratti or Coutinho), a new RB could easily cost 30M or more (Bellerin or Cancelo), don't see much more money to sign a CB on top of that, esp. when we have Marlon and Yerry effectively signed.
The figure 60M was the case for past season when the net debt to EBITDA ratio was a bit tight, but many things have changed since. A record deal with Nike increased the income from EUR 30m per season to 155m starting Jan 2018. Another deal is with Rakuten for 55m (excluding adds on of 6.5m) an increase of 25m over previous sponsorship. Other smaller sponsorship has been signed as well not sure but I think I read on Ara it was worth 40m. Expatriates have increased as well with new contract extensions and sporting salary to income ratio but the debt much lower now to earnings. All this off the top of my head but I need to do more research.
I am not too convinced of his technical ability but he can cross and run like mad and as long as can have sergu roberto abck in midfield,i am happy. Also sergi Samper will be back in the squad.
We will sell Andre Gomes/Arda/Rafinha and that should get us something like 85 mio and that should be enough to get bellerin & veratti/Bernardo Silva.
A lot depends on the new coach and what his opinion is of the squad we have. On the one hand I've seen it said that our grand once plus Masch are the only untouchables, on the other hand the club has said that they are not going to give up on Gomes after just one season. IF we do bring in a midfield star / potential starter then we do need to thin the ranks a bit, esp. if Samper comes back, Alena is promoted, Roberto is moved back to midfield. In that scenario I could see selling all 3 you mentioned. Not sure they fetch 85 but certainly another 60 on top of the 60 we already have earmarked for net transfer spending.
Not a big fan of selling 3 to get one (I think Veratti alone is $80m+). That's why we have no squad depth....
the new coach is valverde. Arda will fetch 25 and will be used in the Bellerin deal,The club has said so about Andre Gomes to prevent his transfer value from falling.He will fetch 25 mio and Rafinha will fetch 30 mio. That makes 80 which is not bad.We can use that to buy Bernardo Silva.
Squad depth is fine if they can add any value or impact from the bench but not at all. Combined salaries of the three players would be close to 10m that can be better used.
I am not questioning who the new coach will be, but rather what potential he sees in the players you named, as well as others who might be sold, loaned out, transferred in, return from loans, be promoted. Even if we know (or are nearly certain) Valverde will be the next coach, and even if we can glean insights into his coaching style from his times with Athletic, Espanyol, Villarreal, Valencia, and even abroad with Olympiakos, we do not know which Barca players he values and which he does not. That was my main point. Even if we expect more pressing, and that suggests to us fans that certain players may be better than others (given speed, doggedness, durability, meters run per match, etc.), we cannot say with certainty if we are right. As for prices I think you are exaggerating what Rafinha would fetch - and honestly his history of injuries does not help at all. Of the 3 transfermarkt guesses Gomes 30, Arda 28, and Rafinha 15. https://www.transfermarkt.com/fc-barcelona/startseite/verein/131 73 total, and I'd be surprised both if we sold all 3, and also if we got that much back if we did. You are right that the club would be mad to say publicly who is for sale, as that would limit our chance to get a good price. Illusion is right that salary savings are also useful, however, as a huge club our players generally join here to get the biggest salary of their career. This presents problems when we go to sell those players as a Barca squad player often makes more than most or even all players on their new squad. And the new squad (if it is not a huge club also) generally uses that to try to drive down the transfer fee or even force a loan rather than a sale, sometimes with Barca paying part of the salary.
Andre Gomes is most definitely in the market regardless of club statements. Serie A are very interested in Gomes, notably Juventus. If Juve or any club pay 35m, he's gone. The club will only keep him if they can't get at least 30 back. Leaving/Most Likely Leaving: Denis Gomes (Serie A) Mathieu Vidal Arda (England, Turkey or China) Alcacer (club stands to take a loss) Cillessen Masip Possibly Leaving: Iniesta (obviously, Don decides) Rafinha (wants to be in the Brazil World Cup team) Digne (Valverde decision) Mascherano (likely depends on CB transfers in, China?) Staying: Messi Neymar Suarez Busquets Pique Alba Umtiti Rakitic (contract extended to 2021) Sergi Roberto Ter Stegen Aleña Marlon
No way Gomes is leaving . He's one for the future I'd say Rakitic is more likely to leave than Gomes tbh