Analyzing the market: The needs for FC Barcelona
- FC Barcelona has set lofty goals for their Summer transfer window.
- Accomplishing them will require some careful consideration of the current landscape.
As we enter in the decisive period of the tranfer market, Barcelona has work to do if the want to succed this upcoming season. Major tournaments are finished. Clubs are starting to move and players are being sold fast. This has changed Barcelona's plan and the priority is to buy now and sell later.
The club’s foremost target for the current transfer market is clearly Nico Williams, who was recently named in the UEFA Euro Cup best XI. Three goal contributions and a crucial goal in the final transformed Nico Williams into one of Europe’s most sought after young talents. As the president of La Liga Javier Tebas announced, "Barcelona has the money to sign Nico Williams." The player has a release clause of €58M and Barcelona runs the risk of falling behind in negotiations, as there is still no agreement with the player.
Right now, it is in the club’s best interest to consider selling players. Ronald Araujo has just suffered another major injury and he will not be back until December. The question is, should Barcelona sell him now for a lower price? Or should Barcelona let things play out and revisit his situation down the line, as we know he's one of the best defenders in the world when he’s in form. The club’s financial issues are yet to be solved, and Araujo needs to be sold if Barca are to extend younger players such as Pedri, Yamal or Gavi down the line.
The arrival of Nico Williams Jr will cause Barcelona to have an excess of attacking players. The Brazilian Raphinha has not performed as expected and is a valuable wing-option in the current market. His sale would be an interesting option for Barcelona to consider, as it would return a solid profit.
Recent rumors also link FC Barcelona to RB Leipzig’s Dani Olmo. The price set for the player is around €60M. An important fee for any club, but one that makes sense for a player of the Spaniard’s caliber. Dani Olmo is a phenomenal player as we know, but Barca has other necessities in the midfield. Pedri is a younger, yet similar player in Barca’s midfield that even started over Olmo for the national team. Injuries have slowed down his career but Pedri’s role at Barca is secure.
The last step is to sign a striker. Robert Lewandowski is currently 35 years old and his level is clearly dropping. The back up option would be Vitor Roque, but the 19-year-old is currently unregistered to even suit up for a La Liga side. The club clearly doesn't trust him, meaning that any signing would need to be a striker that has shown more promise. The ideal fit would be Man City’s Julian Alvarez but facilitating his signing wouldn’t be easy. The player wants to leave Manchester and he has always been a big fan of FC Barcelona, but the club has priorities elsewhere and Alvarez is in search of a starting role.
Barcelona faces a daunting and defining road ahead, but they’ve learned from the past and are now more cautious with their financial pursuits. If the club does things right, anticipating the movements of other sleeping giants trying to spoil their plans, they can exit this Summer transfer window with a highly competitive and complete squad.