The Barça, bad buyer and worse seller

At the close of the market, Barça could not even pay for the signing of Brazilian Gustavo Maia (a player from the subsidiary for which he paid 4.5 million) with the departures of Rafinha, Rakitic, Arturo Vidal, Luis Suárez and the transfer of Todibo.

“Of the big three in the League, we have made the best market, conditioned by the pandemic and the crisis.

What sales and signings have the others achieved? ”, They defend themselves from the Barça club;

"We have transferred players that the coach did not want, elderly, and we have freed ourselves from more than 70 million in the salary bill."

But since Josep Maria Bartomeu came to the presidency at the end of January 2014, Barça has been mortgaged in terms of numbers and it only worked the following season, in 2015, inheritance of a champion team that with Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez signed the second triplet, milestone never achieved.

Since the Berlin final there is no one who is screwed into the starting team, agitated by four sports directors - Zubizarreta, Robert Fernández, Abidal and Ramon Planes - and without a clear plan, as the team explained in the previous year, empty of titles due to first time in a decade.

The chaos led Messi to request an exit through a burofax, denied by contract;

mess that took on even more color on this last market day.

"There have been signings with an average age of 27.7 years and four players have arrived with an average of 21. And, limited as we are in money, the wage bill has been significantly lowered," they wielded from the city offices sports, aware that Barcelona's debt already amounts to 820 million after skyrocketing 48% in a single year.

From the sports city they admit that Koeman got angry - "although he understands the economic situation," they add - because since his arrival he asked for a striker (Memphis Depay, from Lyon) and a central defender (Eric García, from City), since he was The position with Piqué, Lenglet and Araujo [enrolled in the first team along with Riqui Puig, Ansu Fati and Matheus Fernández] remained “short”.

There was time to undertake the signings and to sell, but neither did the Barça sports area get to one or the other, which at around 10 pm on Monday night told Lyon that it did not reach the 20 million requested by Depay, of the same So at 11:15 p.m. he sent a last offer of 10 million fixed plus five in variables for the central

, rejected because Txiki Begiristain stood at 20. "We were not going to pay that when in 14 weeks he will be free to negotiate," they point out from the Barça, who even refused that the player put money from his pocket to make his trip back to the Camp Nou a reality.

The internal criticism, however, is that they were not able to transfer Umtiti, for whom no firm offer came.

It happens that the market closing seemed a nonsense.

Koeman not only did not bring Eric García, but they decided to give the central Todibo for two courses to Benfica for two million.

"The coach didn't want it," they justify from the club;

"And he did not handle that not playing well."

Something similar happened with Rafinha, sold at zero cost - they hoped to get some 16 million - to PSG, a club fighting with the Catalans because it systematically refused to reinforce it with players like Verratti, Rabiot, Di María, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos and even Neymar .

"Leonardo [sports director of the Parisian club] called in the morning and asked to sign him for free on the

financial

," he says from the Barça leadership;

"Koeman told us that he did not want it, Rafinha asked us to release him and we did not get another offer than Celta, worse still."

Three million in variables to reach the Champions League and 35% in a future sale.

Annoyed by the fans at the time that Rafinha wrote after midnight to the sports area to thank.

Decisions in terms of wage bill

The same did not happen with Dembélé, Barça castled and the player in a transfer and not in a loan as requested by United.

One less entry that does not make up the numbers of transfers in the Bartomeu era, since 34 players have been signed -for the 40 who have transferred- and only Lenglet, Griezmann and De Jong (at times Arturo Vidal and Semedo) have made a fixed site at

.

"Now we have to make decisions," announced Bartomeu after the Champions League hit against Bayern (8-2).

Decisions that went through lightening the wage bill, since otherwise it would be incomprehensible to transfer Luis Suárez (Atlético) and Arturo Vidal (Inter) at zero cost, also to Rakitic (Sevilla) for 1.5.

A trend, in any case, repeated since Bartomeu arrived because Xavi, Afellay, Alves, Montoya, Song, Sandro, Masip, Mathieu, Iniesta, Samper, Vermaelen, Douglas and Arda Turan left without dressing.

Far is the message of Txiki Begiristain at the beginning of this decade, then Barça sports director.

“Our goal is not to achieve a record in sales, but in titles.

Barça is a club that signs players at their best and doesn't sell them until they see fit ”.

Now, it is required.

Problem enhanced by the covid, which is understood with the messages of the directive to the sports area.

While the former were asked to sell to buy at ease, with a surplus of 60-70 million in the bedroom, Abidal and Planes were required to sell before incorporating any.

Unable to convince clubs that look at the portfolio like never before, the closure of this market thickens the black numbers of the Bartomeu era, because in these six seasons - according to

- 1,079.85 million have been spent and 722 million have been raised. 75, resulting in a loss of 357.1 million.

Or, put another way, a $ 59.5 million hole per season.

The clear example of this gap is given with Neymar, sold for 222 million (it was his termination clause) and later spent respectively 145 and 130 million in Coutinho - given to Bayern last year and to the strength of Barça now - and Dembélé, who he adds more games in the infirmary than on the grass.

All a gibberish that has weakened Barcelona.