I know, I get it. Another post about Barcelona and their current shortcomings on your feed. But here is the thing: FC Barcelona means so much to so many people. For some, it is the club of Koeman, Stoichkov, and Rivaldo. Those of my age regard it as the club of the great Ronaldinho, Puyol, Xavi, and Iniesta. For all, the club of Messi and Cruyff. Each stirring up a different set of memories and emotions. The iconic striped kit that once upon time viewed itself too noble to don a sponsor is timeless. Simply put, if you love football you must have a soft spot in your heart for Barça.
Far removed from Ronaldinho's dismantling of Real's Galácticos at the Bernabéu, instead we now live in a dystopia where the Barcelona board are actually tossing around the idea of parting ways with the greatest footballer ever - Lionel Messi. This comes after an embarrassing 8-2 defeat at the hands of Bayern in the UCL quarterfinals, the third consectutive capitulation by the Catalans in the competition. Other clubs have experienced famous European nights at the expense of Barcelona, as Liverpool and Roma fans can attest. This begs the question - how? A loss of philosophy and sense leading to a string of harmful sins. Checkers instead of stripes? Shameful.
A strong argument can be made that the turning point was the final whistle of the 2014/15 Champions League final. Xavi lifted the trophy for a team that also included Iniesta, Suarez ,Pique, Neymar, Sergio Busquets, and of course, Messi. If you had told Leo that by 2020 he would not be holding that cup again, he might faint. Following this season, there was a significant change in transfer philosophy at the club, resulting in a shambolic run of transfer misses. While the Guardiola years were primarily built on the back of an unprecedented youth team system (Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Pique, Puyol, Busquets, Messi, etc. all being graduates), 2014/15 was a culmination of savvy business. That summer Ivan Rakitic & Marc Andre ter Stegen were both brought in for a combined 30 million euros, while they splashed the cash on forward Luis Suarez - who has now scored nearly 200 goals for the club (admittedly, the purchase of Thomas Vermaelen was not so bright). Years prior, Neymar arrived for around 60 million (though I am sure there were some additional add-ons involved) and Jordi Alba showed up for roughly 14 million euros. Each player shortly became world-class at their respective position.
Additionally, their selling was equally as smart, parting ways with players that were replacable or nearing the cliff. The 2013/14 saw the departure of Eric Abidal, a 31 year-old David Villa, and midfielder Thiago - the only debatable decision of the bunch. During the aformentioned 2014/15 campaign, longtime keeper Victor Valdes was dumped while Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez were sold to Premier League clubs for a combined 75 million euros. The run of good business smacked face-first into a brick wall.
The summer following their UCL success, Barcelona bought Arda Turn from Atleti and Aleix Vidal from Sevilla for a combined ~63 million euros (with some add-ons thrown in) - roughly the same number of appearances the pair made for the club. Turan especially was a sour move, and he has spent just as much time on loan as he has in the famous colors. Bizarre purchases continued into the 2016/17 season, as Andre Gomes, Lucas Digne, Jasper Cillessen, and Paco Alcacer joined the Catalans for a combined 122.5 million euros. Cillessen barely got a sniff with ter Stegen in front, and the rest of the group never made much of an impact in the first-team. Alcacer and Digne have resurrected their careers elsewhere, and not a single one remains at Barcelona.
However, prior seasons couldn't hold a candle to the 2017/18 string of transactions. Gerard Deuolfeu was purchased back from Everton just to make 10 appearances and be loaned back out to Watford in a span of a couple months. Former Tottenham midfielder Paulinho came in from China for 40 million euros, performed decently for a season, went back to Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande on loan, and then said club triggered his 42 million release clause the following season. All that for a roughly 2 million return. If you watched last week's 8-2 destruction you might recall Alphonso Davies burying a Barça defender on the left wing - that would be 30 million signing Nelson Semedo. Though he is a decent right-back, its performances like that that will make Barcelona cut the cord a little early on the contract that ends in 2021. Unfortunately, we are just getting started.
That same summer Barcelona caved and decided to sell Brazilian star Neymar Jr. to PSG for a jaw-dropping fee of 222 million euros (with oodles of fine print and fees). This gargantuan transaction paved the way for two disastrously expensive arrivals - Ousmane Dembele & Philippe Countinho. Dembele flashed signs of greatness at Dortmund the season prior, and for a roughly 140 million euros (still the joint 6th-highest) the then 20 year old made the move to Spain to be Neymar's heir-apparent. Injuries, inconsisent play, and failure to find his place in the team alongside Suarez and Messi has sabotaged Dembele's time in Barcelona to this point. A memorable goal against Spurs in the UCL and the winning goal in the 2018 Spanish Supercup Final indicates that there is an immense talent there, but how patient the Barcelona board will be is up for debate. As a business transaction, it has to be viewed as dubious at best.
By January, Barça had just beaten rivals Real Madrid 3-0 to move 14 points clear atop of the La Liga table, thanks to a red-hot Messi who was then on track to his fifth Golden Boot. Meanwhile, Coutinho had been busy leading a resurgent Liverpool side under Klopp, though at the turn of 2017 his role alongside Salah, Mané, and Firmino was in question. Coutinho and Barcelona were on a rumored crash-corse for months, and in January the Catalans jumped into the water and made the splash. One-hundred and sixty euros meant that the Neymar spoils had been spent with a matter of months, and Coutinho was theirs. The relationship was immediately kin to getting a square peg into a round hole. Messi enjoys coming back deep into the midfield to collect the ball and jump-start attacks - the same positions in which Coutinho usually operates. Natually, the response was to shift Coutinho to the left wing - an unnatural position for the Brazilian - to keep both playmakers on the pitch, and to avoid the embarrassment of benching a player they had just spent months courting. Needless to say, the return on investment wasn't great, and he was loaned out to Bayern Munich in August 2019.
Flashforward to the current, and Liverpool invested their winnings into goalkeeper Becker and Virgil van Dijk, resulting in a UCL trophy and a priceless first Premier League title in over twenty years. Bayern doesn't seem to have long-term plans for the Brazilian, but have squeezed 11 goals and 9 assits out of him, including 2 goals and an assist in the 8-2 victory over Barcelona last week. During negotiations, it seems that Barça failed to include a common clause that restricts the loanee from featuring against the parent club, just another indication that the board at the club don't know what they are doing. The price was supreme embarrassment in Portugal. Years removed from the start of the Coutinho saga, there is only one clear loser. Despite the odds, Coutinho has not been a total disaster on the pitch for Barcelona (21 goals, 11 assists in 76 apps), yet similarly to Dembele the business decisions are indefensible.
The madness coutinued the following two seasons:
Malcolm: purchased for around 41 million euros, sold the following year to Zenit for 40 million
Kevin-Prince Boateng: loaned in inexplicitly for half a season
Arthur: purchased for roughly 31 million, recently sold to Juventus in a weird fee & swap deal with Miralem Pjanic arriving in exchange
Departure of Deulofeu, Alcacer, Yerry Mina, Aleix Vidal, Paulinho, and Digne
Frenkie De Jong: arrived for around 75 million from Ajax, arguably their best signing since Neymar, though they have failed to give him the keys to the midfield
Martin Braithwaite: desperate signing during the winter transfer period
Antoine Griezmann: 120 million purchase from Atleti, fantastic player whose style/strengths don't mesh well with Messi
Snagging Frenkie was a smart and - considering the talent of the player - a solid piece of business. His skill-set is similar to that of club legends Xavi and Iniesta, and de Jong has already has a visible connection with Leo. However, Barcelona have failed to play de Jong consistently in the deep-lying position he thrived at while at Ajax, resulting in a dysfunctional midfield. Pjanic's arrival may muddy these waters even more. Griezmann is a proven world-class goalscorer, yet made his name playing off of a strong striker such as Diego Costa who holds up the ball. There isn't an attacker on the Barcelona books that fits that mold, and it has shown.
The signing of Braithwaite is an excellent illustration of the mismanagment at Barcelona. Days after the end of the winter transfer window Dembele became injured, and in their eyes there was not a viable replacement to step in. Seventeen-year-old Ansu Fati would have fit nicely into the starting 11 and would have given a future star of the club valuable experience. They instead opted to take advantage of a questionable La Liga law that granted Barcelona an "emergency exception" to trigger Braithwaite's 18 million euro release clause in February. Barcelona spent an unnecessary 18 million and Braithwaite's former club Leganes lost their leading scorer, eventually being regulated on the final day of the season. The only winner was Braithwaite, who would have never played at a club of Barcelona's stature otherwise.
Despite all of this - all of the poor business decisions, straying away from the youth system, losing integral squad members, interesting manager hires - Barcelona has won three La Liga titles, two Spanish Supercups, and a FIFA Club World Cup title since 2014/15. Truthfully, heading into 2020/21 campaign Barcelona are still set up to win La Liga and make a run in the UCL. However, that is in large part due to a resource that much of the board inherited and have since taken advantage of in bad faith - Lionel Messi.
Since that historic 2014/15 season, Messi has averaged 31.6 La Liga goals over the past five campaigns and tallied double-digit scoring in two different UCL runs. Now at 34 years old, he continues to churn out on-field results at a historic rate - and this season was his fourth with over 20 La Liga assists. Doing this admist a disorganized squad that includes numerous players that play in conflicting styles is quite impressive. Barcelona stands as one of the richest sports teams in the world (3.64 billion in 2017 per Forbes) primarily off of the work of Messi, who has remained loyal to the club while Barca executives have raked in piles of cash from sponsorships and advertising. Messi is by no means short on cash himself, but all his dedication on the field has only incentivized Barcelona to settle on moves that will make headlines (and more money) rather than aiding the pitch product. Turning their backs on a youth system that produced countless pieces of silverware and world-class players is another unforgivable sin. There are very talented players still coming through the ranks - Ansu Fati, Riqui Puig, Carles Aleñá to name a few - yet the mindset is instead to purchase expensive players that don't have a real love for the club.
Changes are already in motion following the 8-2 defeat, as sporting director Eric Abidal has departed the club after months of side-jabs and tension with Messi. Ex-Barca defender Ronald Koeman is in as manager, and has already hinted at some high-profile potential departures including Suarez, Busquets, and Alba. The fact that Koeman was even appointed - far from the most qualified manager for the job - speaks volumes of the mess at Barcelona. Messi has reportedly spoken with Koeman and others within Barcelona about his future, and he views that his time at his true love may be coming to and end. In response, Barca claims they won't sell unless a club triggers Messi's massive 700 million euro release clause or until his contract expires next year. If Barcelona aren't able to grapple with their past mistakes and make amends with a hurt Lionel Messi, the club and the football world will literally come to a standstill. Letting the best player ever still in his prime walk out the door will surely be their greatest sin yet.