Barcelona’s antics in the transfer market have been scrutinised more than any other major club so far this decade.
Their inability to register Lionel Messi’s contract in 2021 proved a catastrophic end to an era of financial mismanagement, but they’ve awkwardly stumbled right into another.
Against the backdrop of the Negreira scandal has been Joan Laporta’s metaphorical pulling of financial levers in order to fund transfer activity. This helped win Barca a La Liga title in 2022/23, but they have struggled to kick on this season.
There are two senior members of Xavi’s squad out of contract in the summer, while they still need to decide whether to keep or send home two key loanees. Here’s what we think Barcelona should do.
Let’s start with those permanent members of Barcelona’s squad.
Is Sergi Roberto the flashiest member of the Barca dressing room? No. Is he the most dependable and reliable in a fitness sense? Also no.
But he brings some much-needed intangibles in the form of his leadership as captain, while his versatility should not be overlooked at a time where Barcelona would struggle to find a replacement who fills so many holes through the transfer market. There is a one-year option in Roberto’s deal that can be triggered to save plenty of time and hassle.
Roberto isn’t as good as he once was, but Barcelona should be doing all they can to hold onto homegrown players who simply know how to do a job.
Verdict: KEEP
There is little elegance about Marcos Alonso that has ever suggested he would be a perfect fit for Barcelona, particularly as a stand-in for Jordi Alba of all left-backs at the time of his 2022 signing.
Normally, this would be a contract that Barca would and should be fine with running down, but again there is a need for them to keep tight any sellable assets.
Like Roberto, Alonso has a one-year extension clause in his contract. Even if only to sell him in the summer for a nominal fee, this should be triggered. There’s no use Barcelona letting him walk away for nothing.
Verdict: KEEP
It’s time to talk loanees.
Joao Felix earned his self-proclaimed dream move to Barcelona at the very end of the summer 2023 transfer window, joining on loan from Atletico Madrid.
Life in Catalonia started well and there was quickly talk of making the move permanent, but as was the case at Atletico and then Chelsea, Felix has equally proven a figure of frustration after the honeymoon period came to an end.
He’s not a striker, he’s not a winger, he’s not an attacking midfielder. It’s hard to fit him into a coherent setup and Barcelona’s attack has looked incredibly blunt for long stretches of this season.
Considering the astronomical fee it would likely take to sign Felix from Atletico and the scarce room for manoeuvre Barcelona have, they should look elsewhere for a solution.
Verdict: RELEASE
An idealistic Barcelona team absolutely contains a full-back like Joao Cancelo. There’s no doubting that.
The Portugal international isn’t the most consistent, but his upside outweighs the risk for a team and club that pride themselves on entertaining.
Barcelona’s problem will be where they could scrounge the cash from to keep Cancelo, but if they find a solution for him to stay, they should follow through with it.
Verdict: KEEP
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