New transfer thread for the upcoming season. I honestly haven't been following the news much. I know there is some drama with MAtS. Him being on a high salary might also have something to do with it. In general we need to plug some holes in the team in terms of depth. Although we had some unfortunate some injuries in the business end of the season, I think the club was very fortunate with respect to injuries over the whole season with important players mostly staying healthy in a demanding playing style. So we will need some more depth if we are to have another winning season and a shot at the CL. If anyone has any suggestions for a thread title, feel free to post them.
Repped, as usual, "Mr. Johnny On The Spot!" A couple links to help the conversation: Last Year's Transfer Thread. Barcelona Transfermarkt. Barcelona Capology. Barcelona FBREF. Barcelona Reddit.
Lots of noise regarding Nico Williams at the moment. I must say that his whole saga left a bitter taste last season. However, you’d be crazy to not see that he’s very talented and still pretty young. Plus, he already forms a deadly attacking force on on the wings with Yamal for Spain. Their chemistry would go beyond just club level. I do think that he seems to play better for Spain than for Athletic. Or maybe I just don’t watch him enough in La Liga. Anyway, let’s see how this plays out. I won’t hold my breath this time around, that’s for sure.
Apparently Flick has already spoken to him about what his role would be on the team. https://www.barcablaugranes.com/202...o-williams-about-potential-barcelona-transfer
I’d praise any move that instantly makes this team better, and as much as I’d like to tell Nico to piss off after last time I have to admit that he’s a player that moves the needle. The only problem I foresee if we do manage to pull this rabbit out of the hat is where he would play. A certain Raphinha plays in his preferred position and he just had BDO season. I do wonder if Raphinha just had an outlier season as this abrupt leap in quality was probably one of the most unexpected surprises this season. He’s never played on that level before and he’s already 28. Time will tell. The other problem I foresee is that, seeing as many other big clubs are interested in Nico we wouldn’t be able to win in a bidding war. So I guess it comes down to what Nico really wants. He sure didn’t go for the money when we rolled around last time. Will he show the same intent and desire to play for us rather than chase the money elsewhere? Time will tell.
Eh, there are a few parts about the Nico and Diaz "rumours:" 1. As mentioned already in this thread, the squad planning. What do Barça do with not only Raphinha, but also, Olmo, Fermin, and Gavi? ESPN made this idiotic suggestion that, if Barça buy Diaz, that they then bench all of Olmo, Fermin, and Gavi, so that they then move Raphinha inside to play the #10. IOW, Barça would sideline last year's big signing, PLUS two La Masia products, in order to move Raphinha, so that they can start Diaz. It all sounds pretty moronic to me. 2. The other part of this is the financial planning. Barça probably haven't finished paying off Raphinha's transfer fees. They SURELY haven't paid off Olmo's. And further sidelining Olmo, Gavi, and Fermin reduces their future value to both Barça and to other clubs. Further, how are Barça going to sign a big signing, without a concomitant sale? I guess, without a good explanation as to the squad planning and financial planning, neither Nico, nor Diaz makes much sense. And unless there are sales going outbound, I don't see how there is room in the roster, and FFP room to acquire an expensive piece. To me, a Perisic-sized signing makes more sense than a Diaz or Nico at this point. We'll see.
Here are a couple fun ones to drink in. Both the highs and the lows of Barca's transfer history this century. Departures since 2000: Arrivals since 2000: Some of them, I was so stoked for their arrivals, but there's A LOT of dumb and bad in there.
Joan Garcia signs until 2031, Romano confirms: 🚨🔵🔴 OFFICIAL: Barcelona confirm Joan García as new signing for €25m, contract until June 2031. pic.twitter.com/McpmgvGIvY— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 18, 2025
Update on the Williams pursuit: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6392668/2025/06/19/nico-williams-transfer-barcelona/ Apparently, personal terms have been agreed. One wonders if this will impact De Jong signing a new contract, as well as who will have to go to make this signing possible.
As I mentioned before, despite my past grievances with him, I do think that Nico is a player that moves the needle and instantly makes a team better. So I’d welcome him with open arms as he makes our attack that more deadly. He has made up for what he did last year as far as I’m concerned as he did exactly what I wanted to see to get back in most Barca fans’ good graces. He gave Barca absolute priority and wasn’t listening to any other clubs, and there were plenty, probably with better salary as well. It’s also clear to see that it’s not only Lamine who really wants this move, but others on the team as well. He’ll fit right in. I really hope we can make this happen now. With that being said, we’re gonna have to make some sales and probably some moving around in the squad. I’m glad I’m not Flick at the moment. Quite the head scratcher with Raphina playing in Nico’s preferred position. Last thing I want is a demotivated Raphina. We need 2024-2025 Raphi if we’re to challenge for silverware on all fronts again this season.
I view it as Nico >>>>> Diaz as a player, and Nico >>>>>> as a transfer. Its always good to add talent to a roster, but then all of the players have to "buy in" to their roles, and "buy in" to their rotation. Or else, you have an LPB-style quagmire from this past season. Flick has got to get more comfortable with rotating between games, AND, within games. Or else, he'll lose the roster, and one or more players will want to leave. Hes already got to figure out how to use more of Gavi and Fermin and Casado, and those guys aren't gonna forever live to sit on the bench. On balance this is better than Diaz, but we'll have to see what knock-on effects will come up.
Per Romano, Williams agreed to "€7-8MM/year, NET." Not too bad; I was worried that it would be some sort of idiotic €15MM/year or something like that.
Ansu looks like he’s off to Monaco, Torre seems to be on the chopping block as well (I always liked him), There are rumors surrounding the departure or Araujo as well, Pau Victor might want to go somewhere he could be more of a prominent figure… I’d let Martin go as well, not good enough IMO. Those are a couple of players already.
This was entirely predictable: https://onefootball.com/en/news/bar...lub-this-summer-8211-fabrizio-romano-41278187 Now, I like Danish Dynamite's game. Hes been great, when he's been healthy. Alas, he's 29, going on 30, with injuries: https://www.transfermarkt.us/andreas-christensen/verletzungen/spieler/196948 He only has 1 more season under ccontract. Alas, its time to move on, IMO.
More predictable news: Noah Darvich to Stuttgart. And even more predictable news: Athletic insist on La Liga making sure that Barcelona adhere to the 1:1 rule, before Nico can leave. I'm ambivalent about both. Darvich never 'broke through" in the way anyone thought he might. I mean, if Torre and Victor are both better than him, and Barca are willing to dispose of them so easily, then Darvich probably doesn't have the level to be at Barca. On Nico, yes, he's a top player. Yes he's young, and yes, its a market opportunity to exploit. OTOH, once Barca stupidly bought Olmo a season ago, we all knew that there would be someone crowded out. NOW, if Nico arrives, I'm guessing that either Gavi or Fermin will be "tapped up" to leave. Already, we've seen Citeh, chelski, Q$G, Bayern, and a Saudi club as "rumoured" to be interested in Fermin. I suspect that the Nico signing ultimately will occur, because Laporta wants to win re-election. Its just a matter of what Barca will have to do to make it happen.
The more that I think about it, the more I see how lucky we were that both Yamal and Raphinha stayed quite healthy last season. Lewa and Olmo less so, but that's probably not going to get better. So, I see the Nico signing as a pretty essential requirement for depth for next season. But also makes us stronger in the medium and long term, of course. Its also low risk because of any potential resale value Nico would have if for whatever reason he is not happy at Barca after a couple of years. -------------- Olmo/Lewa --------------- Nico-------Raphinha/Fermin------ Yamal We would have a good amount of cover if any of the above are injured since Raphinha can go either to the left or right or we just play with 4 traditional midfielders.
Re: Nico. Sounds like it'll be a 6-year contract, where wages get progressively higher in the latter years, to make it easier to register him for next season.
Where does Ferran fit into this? And Gavi? Agreed that cover is/was needed, but it looks like Barça are also a bit overweight.
Ferran? I guess more or less the same as last season. Filling-in for Lewa or an attacking MFer when someone is not fit or needs a rest. Perhaps if Ferran keeps getting better and Lewa getting older there will be a few more chances for him next season. He is versatile, so am not too worried about him finding opportunities to play. Gavi OTOH....
Yet, you chose to put the inferior option at the #9, in Olmo... Not picking at you, but the Olmo purchase is already turning out as I'd feared. Either he or Fermin will be forced out, because of the existence of Olmo in the roster. Kinda like the purchase of Cesc later forcing Thiago out years ago. The rest of the industry has already placed their bets on Fermin being the one forced out, as Chelski, Man Citeh, Q$G, and a Saudi club have all enquired as to his availabilityin recent weeks. Buying Olmo is/will be a great way to squander ~€200MM, I guess.
Am just being realistic. Olmo is a more likely starter from day 1 than Ferran Also, my "placements" were based on the assumption that everyone is healthy, which will almost never be the case. We always have these discussions before the season, and then during the actual season it goes from "where does player X fit?" to "who tf are we going to play there now that players X, Y and Z are all injured or suspended?" The first question is not a real issue. Injuries are funny like that. At the moment, we know injuries have a significant impact, but 2 months later we are like "how did we lose to that Inter team?" Genuinely bewildered.
Fair enough. I didn't rate Ferran going into this past season, but even a blind, drunk monkey could see that he outperformed Olmo at the #9 position. [FFS, I believe that Fermin played more minutes last season in all comps than Olmo.] Its gonna get crowded at certain positions next season. And if Flick continues to be slow to go to the bench, there are gonna be one or more good players that will either ask to be transferred, or be enticed to leave in some form or fashion.