This January is poised to be one of the quietest on record for Barcelona in terms of transfers.
Simply put, there isn’t any money in the kitty to do any deals, and even if there were, they’d have to wait until at least a week before the deadline as that’s the day the the new president will be elected.
Until then, there’s little hope of anyone joining the club, though frankly, there’s no hope anyway.Barca’s recent transfer policy was laid bare recently when it was reported that the Catalan club had pulled out of the deal to sign Bayern Munich’s David Alaba.
The left-sided player was being offered to the club on a free transfer and they still baulked at that because of the player’s salary demands.
How one of the presidential candidates can then profess to be able to bring Neymar back to the Camp Nou if he’s elected, or another suggesting Erling Haaland will sign were he elevated to power, is anyone’s guess.
What’s more likely at this stage is that Lionel Messi will be keeping his eyes and ears on everything in the next few weeks, as this could offer him vital clues as to where he thinks the club will be come the summer.
The Argentinian can actually talk to clubs now, but has been quoted as saying that nothing will be decided before season’s end.
Whether you believe that Messi will have the benefit of a few months thinking time or not, it’s clear that Barca as a club have to go some way to meet his stated aim of having a ‘competitive team.’
That’s a pre-requisite for Messi to stay and see out his career at Camp Nou, but with Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay only being looked at for summer purchases because they too are freebies, Messi’s question has already been answered.
Clearly, all of Barca’s current and future ills can be laid at the door of previous president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, surely the worst incumbent of the role that the club have had in their history.
Whomever is elected on the 24th needs to be at their most persuasive to even get the current No.10 to the negotiating table in any event.
Nothing is impossible of course, but the way Barca are playing, it will be a good few years before they’re challenging the big boys in Europe again.
Can Messi really be bothered to wait that long?
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