The summer of 2016 was mostly forgettable for Barcelona. Will the board learn from its mistakes and give La Masia graduates a chance?
The buys in 2016 looked promising. Robert Fernandez did a lot of hard work to sign a lot of highly-rated players. He signed Paco Alcacer and Andre Gomes from Valencia, Denis Suarez from Villareal, Samuel Umtiti from Lyon, Jasper Cillessen from Ajax and Lucas Digne from Paris-Saint Germain.
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Only one of his signings has impressed, Samuel Umtiti. Denis Suarez has done well but Luis Enrique has not given him many opportunities. Jasper Cillessen and Lucas Digne have scarcely played but were not very convincing. Digne has played well defensively, but he has not been good going forward.
Andre Gomes and Paco Alcacer were bought for a combined fee of €67 million from Valencia. Gomes has made 23 appearances for Barcelona, giving a return of 1 goal, 1 assist and an average rating of 6.65. Paco Alcacer has made 18 appearances and has scored 4 goals and has 3 assists to his name, with an even worse average rating of 6.54.
Needless to say, these two players are terrible signings. They have had no positive impact on a game thus far. Since their move to the Camp Nou, their combined value has dropped to €50 million.
Demise of La Masia
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We should hope that this will make the board realise the mistakes it is making. The club’s player acquisition strategy is slowly turning into that of Real Madrid. The last successful batch of La Masia graduates was promoted in 2012 when Rafinha and Sergi Roberto were called up to the first-team.
But after that, the club did not promote anyone. Munir el Haddadi and Sandro Ramirez were rare promotions, but the management did not give them a chance. Both of them have left the club.
Others like Wilfrid Kaptoum, Alex Grimaldo, Adama Traore and Gerard Deulofeu have left in search of first-team football. They all had talent and were quality picks by the Barcelona scouting team. But the management did not deem them fit to join the first-team.
After Gerardo Martino took over, Barcelona have followed the policy of signing young players for big money rather than developing its own players. For instance, in the last 5 years, the club has signed 5 players from Valencia, and three of them were under 23.
Next season’s transfer policy
La Masia will play a big role in the 2017-18 season. This batch of graduates are supremely and have a high chance of getting the call-up. Here is the list prepared by Sport which mentions the players in the B team worthy of a call-up:-
- Sergi Palencia – Right-back and B team captain
- Marlon – Centre-back and towering presence at the back
- Carles Alena – Has scored for the first-team and has been labelled the next Rivaldo
- Gerard Gumbau – Defensive midfielder and consistent performer
- Ferran Sarsanedas – One of Barca B’s top performers this season, ‘Golden Boy’ nominee
- Alex Carbonell – Gifted player with top technical skills, has debuted for the first-team
- Dani Romera – Forward and the B team’s top goalscorer with 15 goals in Segunda B
- Marc Cardona – The side’s second highest goalscorer with 14 goals in all competitions
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These 8 players can occupy the slots in the squad that will be vacated by the leaving players. Therefore, the first-team players who are leaving can be replaced by new arrivals while the fringe players who are on their way out can be replaced by these youth players.
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The success rate for this formula is too high for it to be a failure. All we need is a manager with fresh ideas who believes in youth and is willing to give youngsters a chance.