Transfer Necessities

       FC Barcelona struggles publicly during the transfer window. Perhaps it is all smoke and mirrors, but the club portrays doubt and indecision during the summer months. This begins with an inability to make purchases quickly (with the exception most recently of David Villa), and is most clearly shown with the club's inability to purchase the players that are really needed to fill gaps in the team. Reasons stem from the political nature of the club and the obsession with "Catalanism".

The Cesc Fabregas saga has been the personification of Barca's problems. Perhaps this year, or more appropriately next year, Fabregas would be the perfect fit for the club, but for the past few years his purchase would have been totally unnecessary. I will not delve into the Fabregas saga too much at the moment, but it is enough to say that it has made the club loose focus from what is really needed.

Many fans do believe that Fabregas is a necessity at the moment, but I am not one of those. But what happens if Xavi or Iniesta is injured, they ask. Affelay and Thiago are there as AM to temporarily fill in those gaps. And it is extremely unlikely that both are injured at the same time, and for very long. However, defensive issues are not a possibility in the future, they are already upon us. It is apparent that Puyol will begin having health issues. He was unavailable for a large portion of the season due to mysterious knee injuries. Furthermore he is now recovering from surgery, and we are not sure he will make a 100% recovery. Pique is a sure CB, and will be one for another several years, but our 4-3-3 formation necessitates 2 quality CBs. Luckily, the purchase of Mascherano last year gave the team a reliable substitute for that position. But he is not a native CB. Abidal is our starting LB, and we do not currently have a reliable starting LB. Moreover, even though Abi sometimes plays in the CB position for the French national side, he plays horribly in that position for Barca. He loses his marker and does not provide adequate coverage. Fontas and Bartra are players that need to be immediately introduced to the first team. But they are not ready to start big games.Thus, we really only have 1 reliable CB, and 3 possible starters. They need to begin playing in the easier games, but we need a CB of reference. My picks:

1. Thiago Silva- Currently one of the best CBs in the world. Positives: He can move the ball up the field, is tactically up to Barca's level, and is quick. He is also young, and could be a starting player for many more years. Negatives: High purchase price and the fact that he just renewed his contract with Milan. Plus, he likes it there and would not force an exit.
2. Vertonghen- Positives: young, fast, big, a natural leader, and plays for Ajax- a team which breads Barca- style players. Negatives: The club management doesn't even seem to notice his existence, and coming from an inferior league he is slightly untested.
3. Vidic- Positives: Big, excellent ability, tested, a leader. Negatives: He is the captain of ManU and would be almost impossible to pry away from them. Plus, he is older, and wouldn't be reliable for more than 4 years.

Barcelona need to begin to take some position vacancies seriously. The club was lucky to have so many high-level youth squad players graduate and begin to play at the same time. This needs to begin with defense. Mourinho's Madrid will be more threatening and more serious next year, and we need to be able to handle this offensive power. Obviously our team's defense begins with our offense and our ball possession. However, counter attacks have threatened us too many times this past season, and we need to continue to be able to handle these threats.

The next area that needs to be addressed is offensively. This year, especially towards the end, we had a lot of trouble scoring goals. When Messi doesn't drive the attack, and Villa isn't "feeling" on during the game, we are totally out of options for goals. We need options. Bojan Krkc is not an option, and thankfully it appears he will be leaving the club this transfer season. Jeffren Suarez is also not an option. The best forwards are hard to come by, and usually need to be purchased. Height would be preferable, because it would give the club another style of play if necessary. However, innate goalscorers could always be second options should one of the starting three get injured or aren't playing well. Options:

1. Fernando Llorente- Positives: Tall, amazing header (a place where we lack significantly), proven in Spain, on the national team. Negatives: Price and desire to play for Barcelona. His current club needs no money, because they spend no money.
2. Rossi: Positives: Innate goalscorer, fast, quick, proven in Spain, wants to win more and is currently not doing so with the yellow submarines. Negatives: nothing.
3. Alexis Sanchez: Positives: quick, bright future. Negatives: more of a creator rather than a goalscorer, not proven in Spain, price.