Barcelona are in turmoil - is Messi to blame?
Barcelona’s glory days are firmly behind them…
It’s a sad but true statement that was echoed by the Blaugrana’s humbling in the 4-1 Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
The lack of effort by Messi and Co brought back memories of their 8-2 drubbing to Bayern Munich towards the latter end of last year.
The decline of Barcelona is not something that has spontaneously occurred overnight though, it’s been a gradual issue that is now beginning to surface and define this weak and deprived Barcelona side.
The question I ask to you, the reader, is this; Are Barcelona the most backwards super-club in World Football?
We can begin to answer that by analysing and acknowledging the four main factors that have lead Barcelona into the steep decline that, if they’re not careful, could define them in the coming years.
If you’ve got this far and would prefer to watch/listen to the rest, consider watching our video on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DenBcAUKii8
“The Ever-Ageing Squad”
It was an apparent problem last season and was highlighted majorly on the world stage in the 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich.
The shock result arose questions from fans and industry-backed professionals alike - with the inevitable conclusion resulting in the fact that the core of that Barcelona team were past their sell-by dates and needed to be replaced within the coming seasons.
When Barcelona suffered that heavy defeat, they had an average squad age of 30 years.
Now, whilst they have managed to reduce that number to an average of 27.5 years, the fact still remains that eight of those players are still in and around the first team squad that recently lost to Paris Saint-Germain.
The core of this Barcelona team are stagnant and as a result, the club is in desperate need of world-class reinforcements.
“The Awful Transfer Policy”
If Barcelona had not been so reckless with their player departures, the rebuild that they are in desperate need of would be a more feasible option, even in today’s COVID-stricken market.
Sadly, their lack of business-nouse has contributed to some horrific debts that they now face - but we’ll get onto that later.
For a Barcelona side that are in money trouble, some of the money they have lost in player departures is truly astonishing for a club of that size.
Case Study 1: Rafinha Alcantara
In June 2018, the Brazilian had a market value of £25m after a successful loan spell at Italian giants Inter Milan.
For a player who did not feature often for the Spanish club, his value was impressive and as a result, Barca should have looked to sell him there and then. This point is validated even more so with the lack of playing time that Rafinha received when he arrived back in Spain after his loan spell expired.
The brother of Thiago went on to make just 11 appearances in the last 3 years of his contract and eventually left Barcelona for PSG, joining on a free transfer.
Barcelona missed their chance to cash in on Rafinha by allowing his contract to run down - this is just one of many monetary errors.
Case Study 2: Luis Suarez
One of the worst mistakes in recent times from the Spanish club.
Not only was Suarez a key member of the squad, but he was (and still is) a best friend to Lionel Messi.
Whilst his departure has certainly helped to diminish the average age of the squad, it’s also left a gaping hole in terms of goal contributions for the side.
During Suarez’s final season for Barcelona, he chipped in with 33 attacking returns in just 36 appearances. Especially at his then-age of 33, those are some world-beater stats; 21 goals and 12 assists in 36 games.
To make matters worse, Suarez’s stats were almost incomparable with star player Antoine Griezmann, who could only help his side with a total of 19 attacking contributions in 48 appearances.
Whilst 29 year-old Griezmann had a market value of around £86m, at the same time, 33-year-old Suarez had a market value of £31.5m.
Barcelona should arguably have looked to depart with Griezmann, due to the security of what would have been close to a £100m fee when all was said and done - especially before the COVID-stricken market.
Inevitably, it was Suarez who they let go, and even though they had the opportunity to recoup some type of monetary value for the Uruguayan superstar, they instead allowed his contract to run down.
Thats right, you guessed it - he left on a free transfer.
At the time of writing this, Suarez is sat at the summit of La Liga with Atletico Madrid, eight points ahead of Barcelona.
He’s also tied with Lionel Messi as the Spanish League’s top scorer, with 16 goals from just 20 games.
A stat that scrutinises Barcelona’s rash decision even more.
Case Study 3: Ivan Rakitic
Arguably one of the worst deals in the history of football in terms of monetary value that was lost.
In June 2018, after a successful World Cup campaign with Croatia, Ivan Rakitic had bolstered his market value to around £63m.
Whilst this is a huge figure, especially in comparison with the £16m that Barcelona paid Sevilla for him, it’s nothing in comparison to the £90m bid that PSG made for him.
Of course, Barcelona rejected this, which in one way is understandable - due to then manager Ernesto Valverde valuing him as a star player and guaranteeing the Croat regular game time.
On the other hand though, when a 30-year-old is subject to an offer of £90m after a successful World Cup campaign that has significantly bolstered his price tag - it’s almost too good to turn down.
Barcelona should have let him go there an then.
Instead, he stuck around at Barcelona and had a somewhat lacklustre season which resulted in him falling down the pecking order.
As a result, just 2 years later, he was allowed to leave for a cut price fee of £1.3m.
That’s right, you read that correctly - £1.3m!
Unbelievably shocking business from Barcelona.
Case Study 4: Pjanic/Arthur Swap Deal
It doesn’t get any better within this case study either.
Essentially, Barcelona swapped a 23-year-old Brazilian midfielder with potential for a steadily declining 30-year-old Bosnian midfielder who is past his best.
Whilst they received £66m for Arthur, they forked out a whopping £55m for Pjanic - with Juventus effectively laughing all the way to the bank whilst looking at their new coup with high esteem.
It’s fair to say that both players haven’t set their new respective leagues alight, but Pjanic has taken that statement a step further.
At the time of writing this, in 16 appearances, the Bosnian has not got a single attacking return - meaning 0 goals and 0 assists.
Understandably, his market value is steadily declining as he approaches his 31st birthday and his performances have certainly not helped his cause.
Yet another shocking piece of business.
More Lost Money
Whilst I could certainly proceed with more examples of Barcelona’s lack of philosophy in the transfer market, it’s worth noting that the problem has seeped through to youth football’s most famous academy; La Masia.
Below are just some examples of youth players who were allowed to leave too soon, along with their current price-tags in the market:
ANDRE ONANA - £32M
MAURO ICARDI - £50M
ADAMA TRAORE - £36M
ALEJANDRO GRIMALDO - £25M
HECTOR BELLERIN - £25M
LUCAS DIGNE - £30M
Recognise any of those names?
I thought so.
“No Squad Depth”
The lack of squad depth is yet another issue that continues to plague Barcelona.
Whilst it’s made more apparent due to the majority of the first team squad well into their 30’s, it’s a problem that could have been rectified if they had been more astute with their transfer business.
The lack of squad depth was on full display during their 4-1 defeat to PSG in the Champions League.
The bench consisted of two goalkeepers in order to make up the numbers, whilst Gerard Pique was rushed back from injury and shoved straight back into the first team, clearly suffering from a lack of match sharpness against a raring to go Kylian Mbappe.
Yet again, it’s an issue that is unacceptable for a club of this size.
When comparing Barcelona to a well-run super-club like Manchester City, I think it’s fair to conclude that the majority of their bench would walk into their first team…
“No Money for a Rebuild”
The final point in this unfortunate, necessary and eye-opening decimation of FC Barcelona is the obvious; Barcelona are in desperate need of a rebuild.
It’s all well and good stating this, but in order to pull off such a feat, especially in this day and age, you have to have sufficient funds.
Unfortunately, due to some terrible business in the transfer market, along with paying players ridiculous wages that they cannot afford long-term - Barcelona do not have any money for a rebuild.
In fact, they’re actually over £1 billion in debt at the time of writing this.
A large part of why this is the case is down to one man and arguably the greatest player of all time; Lionel Messi.
Over the last 4 years, Barcelona have foolishly paid him around £500m!
Go back another 4 years and they’ve made the exact same error.
Essentially, Barcelona have made Lionel Messi bigger than the club and as a result are now paying the price, quite literally!
The severe lack of funds means that they cannot afford to play their most expensive signing; Phillipe Coutinho, due to the fear of having to pay an appearance bonus to Liverpool.
Whilst on that subject, it’s worth nothing that they still haven’t paid the ridiculous £130m fee, which they should never have agreed to.
At this moment in time, Barcelona are looking like a lost cause and with continued links to an ageing and somewhat injury-prone Sergio Aguero, it appears as though the same mistakes could be made.
The Blaugrana have lost their way over the last 5 years and at this rate, their 3 years without a trophy could easily extend to 10 if they do not act promptly.
So having listed these points, I ask again;
Are Barcelona the most backwards super-club in World Football?