Barcelona need reinforcements, and fast

Barcelona’s coach Tito Vilanova, who stepped down, gives a press conference after the first training session of the season

Another Dutch-schooled player, Jan Vertonghen of Tottenham Hotspur, could be seen as a viable alternative, but given that he is vital to Spurs’ plans of finishing in the top four next season and is very happy at White Hart Lane, would need the right price to tempt him to Spain.

But while the centre-back question has bothered Barcelona for some time, the presence of a question mark in central midfield is one that is very new to them. Given that they are so central to Barcelona’s tiki-taka game and the telepathic connection they share with Messi, both Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta are very hard to displace from Barcelona’s starting XI.

Thiago was, of course, well aware of this, and that was the reason he was keen to re-join Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich once his old mentor had called on his services. Barcelona, of course, knew how talented he was (his performances for his country at the recent U-21 Euros add credence to that) and were scrambling to put together a new deal for him.

A World Cup winner with Brazil in 1994, Thiago Alcantara’s father Mazinho knows how important it is to accrue game time at this stage in a footballer’s professional career and has okayed his son’s move to Germany in the hopes that he will feature with the Bavarian giants. Given that Guardiola has been pursuing the 22-year-old since February.

Now that Barcelona have lost the player who had the team’s highest pass accuracy (93%, which saw him complete more than 1700 passes), they would surely be keen or holding on to Cesc Fabregas, who left his adopted home at Arsenal as he sought to re-join his boyhood club in an attempt to play under Guardiola, a man he idolised.

But the 26-year-old – who attempted the most through passes last season – has piqued the attention of both Manchester United and his former club Arsenal, whose manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that the club have been placed on alert, given the buy-back clause they inserted into his contract when he returned to Barcelona in 2011.

David Moyes, who has replaced the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, had looked at Thiago as his first major signing of his tenure at Manchester United, but having lost out on him, seems to be pulling out all the stops to bring in Fabregas. Whether he will actually move to Old Trafford is unclear, but he will surely want more game time than is currently being afforded to him.

Several players have been linked to the club, including Chelsea‘s Juan Mata. Of a similar mould to Fabregas and Iniesta, the former Valencia midfielder has everything he needs to succeed at the Camp Nou. Jose Mourinho, though, would be loath to sell one of the players on whom he hopes to construct Chelsea’s future successes. That and the rivalry that is seen as the natural order of things between Real Madrid and Barcelona would mean that the Portuguese, who was sacked by Real before returning to Chelsea, would flatly refuse to sell them one of the Blues’ star players.

Another player linked to them is Mathieu Valbuena. At 28, the player is ready for a long-awaited move away from his native France and in him, Barcelona could find a player they would be able to snap up, given his versatility and control on the ball.

As always though, there are cheaper options. Juventus are looking to offload players and, for the right price, could let go of Sebastian Giovinco. The Atomic Ant – like Fabregas – has seen as much action from the bench as he has from the start of a game – and for the right price, the Italians would not mind letting him leave.

AC Milan are another club looking to trim their wage bill and bringing Antonio Nocerino to Spain might be a good idea if Barca do want to strengthen in midfield.

All this, of course, means that both Javier Mascherano and Alex Song are brought back into the holding midfield role, alternating with Sergio Busquets to ensure the club have depth in every position.

For against the likes of Real Betis, Mallorca and Celta Vigo, Barcelona can afford to play a couple of players out of position and still manage to win a game. They are that good. But their Day of Reckoning – some might argue – had been coming for some time and it is a good thing that it did come to them on the highest of stages for that will only underline how quickly they need reinforcements.

For all that to be accomplished, however, they first need a new coach.