The summer transfer window opens on July 1/2020 and close on Sept. 1/2020. I think there should be a thread for that. Who do you think Barcelona should sell/trade this summer and what kind of player we should sign for what positions? Please, feel free to express your toughts.
OK. I'ii start first. In my opinion, Barcelona must get rid of several players that don't fit well anymore. Players like Umtiti, Firpo, Rakitic, Vidal, Coutinho. We have to upgrade almost every line of our team, so it is going to be very busy summer.
Due to the global pandemic of COVID-19 delaying football for months, but now underway or about to get underway in the four biggest leagues (Germany, Italy, England, and Spain), I think that the transfer window is being delayed of necessity. It is not fair to allow clubs to add players (and lose players) while completing the delayed finish of the 2019/20 campaign, nor before the CL and Europa playoffs are completed. In that case the transfer window could be a very short one between mid August and mid September, when 2020/21 leagues are generally expected to start. Also the pandemic has ruined the budget projections of many teams as games were delayed, canceled, or played without fans in attendance. So by most rumors there will be far less money spent, and possibly more exchanges of players rather than cash, and the ever popular loans of players may become even more popular. It is just not a great time to sell, although if you are a buyer who can buy without triggering financial fair play prohibitions, there may be some bargains to be had from clubs desperate to raise money or cut salary. As far as Barca goes, getting Lautaro Martinez seems like the biggest rumor but damn expensive, Neymar remains even more expensive, hard to see getting either one without selling (not loaning) Coutinho or Dembele for far less than we paid for either. Pjanic seems achievable only if Arthur agrees to move in the other direction. Personally, I'd like to see how we weather the next 11 Liga matches plus at least 1 more CL match before we decide who to sell. Setien only just arrived, as did Braithwaite, and it is still just the first year for Ansu Fati, de Jong, Griezmann, Firpo, plus academy players like Puig and Collado. And we already have signed players like Trincao joining when the season finally ends (not to mention owning other talented players out on loan like Alena, Todibo, Cucurella, Miranda, Rafinha, O. Busquets, Wague, Emerson and the already mentioned Coutinho). I'd like to see less of a galatico approach and more of a squad where La Masia players have a chance to contribute.
Highly disagree with that one I saw Pedro's contract is expiring. Get him back. So is Wilian's they better not any ideas Also Barca has 3 CB's. Get Vertonghen also free
I agree with what you are saying, but the summer transfer window was officially announced few days ago and is not up to speculations anymore. Of course, all competitions has to be finished when it open. Because of the pandemic, it will be shortened window. I also agree that there may not be many galactico signings aka Mbappe, Neymar, Martinez and J.Sancho. Swapping players has never worked well for Barcelona and I don't see it happen now. Pjanic is 30 y.o. and A.Melo is not willing to leave, same as Rakitic. Our options are really limited. I hope we can deal Coutinho to City, Tottenham, Chelsea or Newcastle. Dembele is injury prone and I doubt someone will be interested to sign him, unless the price tag is around 50-60 M, which won't happen. The problem with all Barcelona players is that they feel very comfortable there and are refusing to go to other clubs. And if all dead weights stays, our La Masia products won't get much chances to play.
Highly disagree with which one,mate? Calm down and try to express yourself a little bit better. On July 28, Pedro will turn 33. In early August, Willian will be 32. Vertonghen is already 33. Why are you even mentioning their names. We have enough veterans in this team. We don't need to add two more, even for free.
Che face Mirca? How is your Steaua this season? Seven points behind Cluj hah? No chance for title. Too bad. That may have affected you a lot. I understand.
It’s shocking that Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Steaua Bucuresti won UCL. Forest winning 2 consecutive UCLs is a remarkable achievement. I always rated Brian Clough very high. Good enough to stop Liverpool’s dominance in CL.
Some believe that today's Champions League is tougher to win since only one club per country qualified for the old European Cup. The flip side is that the old tournament was tougher to qualify for since clubs had to win their domestic league just to compete for the trophy. If you believe all that (which I do), then I feel it's understandable why clubs were able to successfully defend the trophy more often in the old tournament than they're able to today: The defending champions gained automatic entry into the next season's tournament, thus they avoided the tough job of winning their domestic league to qualify. Also, the old tournament was a straight knockout competition. No group stage. Luck of the draw mattered much more in the old tournament (imo). The champions-only European Cup also made the old UEFA Cup a much stronger tournament than today's Europa League. The 1995 Bosman ruling combined with UEFA being forced in 1996 to lift restrictions of foreign players on clubs competing in Europe were the keys that turned the 'champions-only' European Cup into today's Champions League. I personally prefer the old European Cup because it only involved league champions. Why should a club have an opportunity at being "champions of Europe" if they can't even win their domestic league? I also miss the Cup Winners' Cup which only involved - for the most part - domestic cup winners (Copa del Rey, FA Cup, Coppa Italia, DFB-Pokal, etc) Fwiw, I place Clough in the top three greatest coaches of all-time (my list) along with Ernst Happel. I say top three but only name two. I like to keep an extra spot open in case another name pops into my mind.
Clough is a great man along with like Ferguson and Shankly. ********in Muhammad Ali knew who Clough was lol. These old school British managers were tough mofos. I lowkey wish I had mentors like Cruyff, Ferguson, Shankly and Clough. I religiously read their quotes and watch their interviews to gain more motivation.
I am bringing up the age of the three players he has mentioned. Nothing else. Do you agree that Barcelona has to sign Pedro, Willian and Vertongen? Nothing has escalated fast, just exchanging thoughts.
The European football, same as many other professional sports has turned into a money laundering market. More teams in the CL and Liga Europa means more revenue for UEFA. The old formation would have only Barcelona playing in the biggest tournament, but today's formation will have also Real, Atletico and Sevilla. The same apply to every one of the top leagues in Europe. And the same aply to the other tournament. More popular clubs means more money and we are talking about hundreds of millions here.
Money certainly makes the footballing world go round. I'm not a fan of it. I prefer the pre-Bosman era.
You guys need to watch Sporting braga games and keep tabs on Trincao. A super gem next season he will become a revelation and can eclipse a declining Messi by 2022. Great signing ,
It just feels like another season will be wasted next year as we wait for this board to go, another summer of terrible signings, awful sub-par managers, even if we sign good players they will stagnate or go backwards. We will fall even further behind clubs such as Liverpool, Man City, Bayern, the squad is ageing, there is no pace or intensity in our play. We are in a complete mess, we have lost the title to a piss poor LPB team as well.
At this point we are falling behind clubs such as Man Utd and Chelsea. The former is closing-in on signing Sancho while we are still stuck with his disabled brother, Ousmane.
Lets see what happen. There is a big chance that we may have early election this summer. After this fiasco in the CL, Bartomeu, Abidal and the entire incompetent board has to resign.