I mentioned at the beginning of the silly season –transfer period- that I’ll follow it casually like a vacation. Enjoy it the way it comes, no matter what. And as anyone with some commonsense can tell you, it’s naïve to take any transfer rumor seriously, as the only reliable media sources are the official websites of the clubs.
Yet, even if you are on a vacation, you can’t enjoy a heart attack when it strikes, no matter what kind of optimist creatures you are. And even though Graham Hunter is a journalist and not a club official, he doesn’t work for Daily Mail after all. So when he tells me –on Football Mood twitter- that what he mentioned in this interview is based on information and not just personal impressions, one should take things a bit more seriously than usual.
Why will Barcelona buy a midfielder in the first place? Pour que?
Word on the street is that Barcelona is focusing on strengthening the offense and might not be able to buy defenders. Spot on.
As I pointed out at the end of the season, the defense passed all kinds of tests and kept being reliable regardless of all injury crisis and suspensions. Now imagine the scenario where the offense suffers half the injuries the defense had to struggle against last season. So it’s a given that investing in offense is more important than strengthening defense. What I can’t understand is investing in midfield instead of defense – again, if it happened.
The club has two of the best holding midfielders, Xavi and Iniesta (enough said?), A quality tactical midfielder in Keita, one of the most talented young midfielders in Thiago, Dutch key midfielder in Afellay, and a long queue of young quality midfielders in the youth teams like Jonathan dos Santos and –especially- Sergi Roberto who will be knocking the first team door in the coming two years. Strengthening offense may even give the chance for Messi to play in the midfield if needed (where I predict he will play few years from now).
Why will a club with such a luxury midfield seek more?
Letting Thiago go to get Cesc? Are you kidding me! Pour que??!!
So far, I cant find one valid reason for Barcelona to buy Cesc –ever- and even a marathon-ic six hours meeting with Pep will unlikely convince me of the virtue of signing Cesc now. Sacrificing Thiago? Get outta here!
Cesc is a quality midfielder. No doubt. But there are also no doubts about current quality in Barcelona’s midfield. And it will only get better with Afellay and Thiago next season.
Graham Hunter suggests that Pep considers Cesc as good yeast for a future captain at Barcelona. Since when future means now? Isn't it the worst time to buy Cesc? His performance last season was not up there, and he is a frequent guest on treatment table, isn't it wiser to wait one more year to see if that injury will follow him throughout his career?
While Cesc is an already developed player with more possibilities to decline than improve, Thiago is getting better each and every day. Isnt it smarter to wait one more year to see if Thiago will bloom enough to prove being a better bet for the future?
Beside, Cesc's price will only go down with time, while Thiago's market value will no doubt increase next summer. Isn't it smarter to do the deal then, if players exchange is imminent?
FC Barcelona's economic vice-president, Javier Faus made his normal fuss about Barcelona's finance in his most recent interview. Still, he promised that in the coming years the transfer budget will only get better and soon Barcelona will be able to spend a 100 Million on transfers without asking for receipts. Why doing cash plus amazing player deal to get Cesc now, when you can safely wait one more year and flood Arsenal's budget in green -just cash?
Isn't it cheaper to spend 40 M when your transfer budget is 100 M than spending 30 M plus player when your transfer budget is 40 M?
Talking about future captains, when will Barcelona need Cesc to lead the team? Place him in the right position on this waiting list after Puyol: Xavi, Valdes, Iniesta, Pique, and Messi. Obviously, Cesc's leadership magic can wait one year or two. If he wants to join this club and be with his childhood friends, he can wait. The political benefits (The in your face Laporta! This is how you do the deal!) can wait. And the key players in the dressing room who are aggressively pushing the decision makers to seal the dealtheir childhood friend to Moc Moc happily for ever can also. Even Arsenal –who in my books are more interested now in selling than ever- has no choice but to wait.
There is a good chance that what Mr. Hunter hunted as a news feast is far from being even close to what’s actually happening. Sometimes clubs leak information to create smoke that covers their true intentions, and sometimes Journalists misunderstand the signals. Or maybe, the news source is Pique –You and your silly pranks… Tsk…tsk…tsk…
It feels like living in denial, but I like to believe that this is the case. That it’s just a misunderstanding, or a Pique prank. Maybe, because you can dig for more sense in keeping Hleb, making him the captain, and listing him above Xavi in picking order than this “sell Thiago to get Cesc, and do it now!” joke.
Talking about jokes…You know what will be even “funnier”? FC Barcelona selling (Exchanging) Thiago with a market value of 9 Millions, then buying Lunas goalkeeper Esteban Andrada and Hercules' player Kiko Femenia for more than that.
Nostradamus just texts me saying: If this deal see the light, Barcelona will make Arsene Winger looks like a transfer Guru with the needed potentials to send Luciano Moggi back to elementary school. Thiago may get offended enough to find his long term future at Real Madrid, where Florentino Perez will not waste the chance to make Barcelona's transfer vision look increasingly a joke.
Looking at the bright side (Meh...), buying Cesc will write the final chapter in the Circus of Chaos, and start a new tale about lack of vision, reasoning, and patience.
