Given Barcaâs financial reality, I find it unlikely that we will be able to cover all of our desired positions. Even with significant departures like Ferran and Araujo, we will not be able to strengthen all of the parts of the squad fans might want. Therefore, I think we should have a clear hierarchy of need for where we decide to put money.
Starting at left center back, like many fans, Iâm cautiously optimistic about MartĂnâs form. I do believe that he could negate our need at that position, especially given how little has been injured these two seasons. He deserves this season as a chance to prove that he can be our starter. If he looks good I say weâre set, even if he isnât absolutely elite Iâd rather put the 50-80m a Schlotterbeck, Guehi, or Bastoni will cost to better use.
With MartĂn switching to center back. We are losing depth at left back. Balde is easily top 5 in the world (Iâd argue only Nuno Mendes is above him but thatâs just me), however, his injury record means his backup will get a significant amount of minutes. Additionally, the amount of space Balde is asked to cover is probably the most of any elite left back to the point where heâs really one of the few players who can do it. I would want to make sure our in-house players get a chance before going to the market. To that end, Jofre Torrents is highly touted from the academy and should 100% start our early Copa del Rey games. He is far more like Balde than Martin which gives me (probably delusional) hope that he can be our backup. Otherwise, Hector Fort has played well on loan at Elche, he has looked comfortable playing left back for Barca before and he has buckets of pace like Balde. That said, he isnât anywhere near as good when it comes to 1v1 defending so he will need to improve in that regard. However, he is also someone to watch for.
As for a left winger, Rashford is about as good as we could ask for, especially for 30m. Barca has been looking at cheaper options, but Rashford guarantees production and has certain tools in his kit like his ball striking that are genuinely 99th percentile. Iâm happy with him and Iâm 75% sure we will sign him permanently this summer. Weâve been linked with Antonio Nusa at Liepzig. However, he will cost more, and is more of a risk for a player who is potentially elite but even lacks some of Rashfordâs abilities.
Lastly, we have striker. In my opinion, this is the single most important signing for us to complete this summer. As it stands, we do not have a traditional 9 that we can reliably field and itâs hurting us on the pitch. Lewa is likely not gonna extend his contract (he would need to slash his wages significantly in line with a player who will likely barely feature). His all-around play in addition to his finishing has been essential to us and we need to sign a successor. The striker market is tough this summer and so the majority of our budget should go to securing a capable target man. We will likely need to spend ~100m which is risky for us. However, we will not be able to get the most out of this squad without an elite 9 leading the line. Kane has explicitly stated that he wants to stay at Bayern, Haaland is financially impossible, and Alvarez is too risky given his profile. Iâve been very outspoken with my preference for Portoâs Samu Aghehowa, but players like Osimhen and Guirassy are also good options to look at.
Iâm curious how other ppl view our transfer needs and if you have ideas as to how we ought to approach the summer transfer window. Lmk




















