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FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona and their fans are arguably the happiest people in the football world now. Still fresh from another successful season with the UEFA Champions League and La Liga to show off, Pep Guardiola and his men have painted the world in Blue and Red. A dramatic season that saw a 5-0 thrashing of the bitter rivals Real Madrid in the first clásico of the season and then an overload with 4 in a row in just 18 days ended on a familiar sweet note for Barcelona as they won the Champions League for the second time in three years and La Liga for the third straight year. And don’t forget the emotions that did burst out when Eric Abidal braved liver tumour to come back and serve the club in his regular way. And the summer of 2011 saw flourishing of the hugely talented Thiago Alcantara to finally show that he has grown up to be the man that all were expecting. Finally, to top it all, Barcelona had a great transfer season that most of the fans still feel orgasmic about as President Sandro Rossell showed not everyone is Joan Laporta at least when transfers are concerned.
Unlike last few years this time FC Barcelona came out as the winners even in the transfer market. For the first time in many years, in all the deals Barcelona were involved, they never looked like the losing side. And now with the club almost formally announcing that there is a very little chance of any more transfers in and out of the club, let us have a detailed look at all the transfers that FC Barcelona did this summer.
Players In:
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal):
Back to home!
Finally the long story has come to an end. The saga that lasted more than 2 years, did for more harm to the reputation of the club than anything else in this period. Constant reminders about Cesc Fabregas’ desire to come back to Barcelona by his friends and international teammates were seen as nagging and arrogance by Arsenal fans and the neutrals too. Though with Cesc finally making a cut of € 5 m from his salary to make the payment for his transfer possible, it seems now that what Xavi, Pique and others had been saying was not totally untrue. But let people derive their conclusions of their own, while Barcelona is happy to get their prodigal son back in the squad. And a cost of € 29 m, half of which are paid now and the rest to be paid in October, is not excessive to buy the captain and most influential player of Arsenal. Especially at a time, when Andrew Carolls and Javier Pastores are being bought with a price on the wrong side of 40. Arsenal, however, will receive another € 5 m if Barcelona wins two Spanish leagues and one UEFA Champion’s League with significant contribution from the new number 4 of the club. They will also get € 5 m more over the next 5 years which will be deducted from the salary Cesc gets from the club. The bright spot in the contract for Arsenal is they have the right to first refusal in case the club wants to sell Fabregas in future, according to the media reports. And in case Barcelona sells him to any other club, Arsenal gets 50% of the transfer fees received by the club in the deal.
another option
Alexis Sanchez (Udinese):
After a lot doubts, uncertainties and dilemma between Villarreal star Giuseppe Rossi and Alexis Sanchez from Udinese, the club settled for the flying Chilean. Bought in with € 26m along with € 11.5 m more on performance dependent variables, Alexis Sanchez does add more strength to the best attacking force in the world football. His speed, eye for goal and great efficiency in one-on-one situations will add an extra edge in the attack while his skills and vision will keep the compact beautiful game of the team intact. Unless he fails to gel with the team and the playing style, Alexis Sanchez can be one of the best signings Barcelona has done in current years.
Kiko Femenia (Hercules):
Kiko Femenia
Among all the frenzy around Cesc Fabregas, Sanchez and Rossi Barcelona almost silently invested for the future in the form of young Spanish winger Kiko Femenia from Hercules for a meagre amount of € 2 m with 1.5 more on performance related bonus. Though most people doubt the use of signing another youngster when La Masia is already blazing bright with talent, it might be a good idea to hook up a talented youngster with top level experience and inject him with some precious Barcelona DNA than wait for him to be a great star and a thorn to the side in future.
Rodri (Sevilla):
FC Barcelona added another youth player to the B squad buying Rodri from Sevilla. The 21 year old Spanish striker scored 19 goals playing for Sevilla B before being promoted to the first team. The young player reportedly cost Barcelona € 1 m and Sevilla has a buyback clause in the deal at € 2m after a year and € 3 m after two years. Rodri will join the likes of Jonathan Soriano, Tello and Cuenca in the Barcelona B team to show his skills and impress the authorities.
Players Out:
Bojan Krkic (AS Roma):
set to conquer Roman empire
In one of the best deals that Barcelona have managed in recent past, young, talented forward Bojan Krkic, who was once thought to be having potential to be as good as Messi, was transferred to AS Roma. Roma paid Barcelona € 12m but the deal was signed with a compulsory buyback clause worth € 13m after 2 years and in case Roma want to stop that they have to cough up € 28m more. It is more like a loan deal for 2 years where the ‘peanut boy’ will gain some first team experience and come back to serve the team. Not surprisingly, many Roma fans felt cheated with the deal but Barcelona fans could not stop admiring Sandro Rossell’s negotiation skills.
Oriol Romeu (Chelsea):
Another bright prospect from the youth team, defensive midfielder Oriol Romeu was transferred to Chelsea in a deal worth € 6 m. And thankfully, to prevent Cesc like situations, Rossell did not forget to put in a buyback clause worth € 15 m after two years and a right to first refusal the next year. Looking at the current team, where Romeu would have to fight the challenges of Busquets and Mascherano for a place in first team and an ageing Chelsea midfield where he is sure to fond playing time, this is a good deal for all the parties concerned. And in case he becomes great like Cesc, there is the option to get him back. Man, experience does teach people!
Jeffren Suarez (Sporting Lisbon):
Unlike Romeu and Bojan, Jeffren left the club silently with a deal being struck with Sporting Lisbon when he left the team in the middle of the pre-season tour to the USA after he filled some of Pep’s fantasies playing at the left back for a few minutes. This deal, worth € 3.75 m included buyback options worth € 8 m after the first year and € 12 m after the second and a 20% share in future sale of the player.
Other not so significant transfers:
Among the others, Gabriel Milito was said ‘thank you’ for everything and was left free to join any club. Nolito too was left free after he preferred to join Benfica than to wait on the wings in the star-studded Barcelona team. Cristian Ceballos, the youth prodigy, was also left for free to join Tottenham Hotspur. The club managed to send Henrique on loan to Palmeiras after he failed to impress Pep Guardiola to get a place in the team. While another highly rated player, forward Keirrison is almost to set to go to Cruziero on another loan after his failed stints with Benfica and Santos in previous years.
So now the team is almost set to resume the fight to regain all the glory once more. Signing Sanchez gives more options in the front and Guardiola can chose any three from Messi, Villa, Pedro, Sanchez and Afellay to start with Iniesta and Thiago also ready to fill in the gaps if needed. The problem fro selection will be tougher in the midfield with Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Thiago and Keita fighting for two places in front of the defensive midfielder. Guardiola will have to chose wisely as both Fabregas and Thiago will need playing time in the squad. However, the problems in the defence remain with Puyol and Pique being the only world class centre backs in the whole squad. However, Guardiola specified earlier that he doesn’t need any more defenders, as he plans to use any of Abidal, Busquets, Mascherano and Fontas in case of injuries and suspensions of the first two. It is to be seen how much can they do to fulfil the expectations of the coach and the supporters when needed.
