Barcelona transfer window analysis – what have Barcelona done and what do they need to do?

In: Ilkay Gundogan (free, Manchester City)

Loan returns: Ez Abde (Osasuna), Clement Lenglet (Tottenham), Nico Gonzalez (Valencia), Sergino Dest (Milan), Alex Collado (Elche)

Out: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Francisco Trincao (Sporting CP), Sergio Busquets (free, Inter Miami), Jordi Alba, Arnau Tenas and Samuel Umtiti (free)

Summary so far: Ilkay Gundogan is undoubtedly a major coup for Barcelona. There’s an argument, certainly based on last season, that he may well be their best player when the season starts, and certainly has to be regarded as their best midfielder. He’s also an interesting addition, given he almost certainly starts, but even with four midfielders in place, it isn’t yet clear where. As things stand, Barcelona have no Sergio Busquets replacement, and yet Xavi Hernandez has spoken of Gundogan and de Jong as players who are better with freedom to move forward. If they play where they are best, it likely leaves Gavi on the bench.

Gundogan is the only confirmed addition, and that speaks to the difficulty that they are having with subtractions from their wage bill. Inigo Martinez is even hanging around the training ground, and he will add more depth to an already formidable central defence.

The loss of Sergio Busquets will no doubt be felt keenly, and Jordi Alba already has a replacement, but few will argue that it was not time for a new era. Even if Barcelona cannot find a good solution to the exit of Busquets, they still have good players in midfield, and are better off going through those growing pains and evolving rather than limiting their development within the limitations that Busquets had. As much as his contribution on the field, his leadership will be missed, but replacing that with the captain of the Champions League winners is about as good as Xavi could have hoped for.

Samuel Umtiti was excellent until injuries struck him down, but his exit was long overdue for both. Of the six returning loanees, only Ez Abde appears to hold realistic hope of impacting Barcelona’s season, but if the likes of Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres and Raphinha all remain at the club, he will have to fight his way through them for minutes. Based on last season, that might not be too much of an issue for the Moroccan livewire, but there is a danger that none of Fati, Torres or Abde get the necessary continuity to get into rhythm.

Currently, you would say that the temptation for Xavi, perhaps against his better nature, is to maintain the four midfielders and favour control above all else. After a season of many tight victories though, the young coach will have to factor in the drop in hunger following success, and come up with a few new solutions.

The most critical you can be is with the lack of departures. From there stems the lack of alternative reinforcements, including Lionel Messi no less, and so success this transfer window depends first on negotiating good fees for the players they have. The Argentine’s exit from European football served to do little more than illustrate that this summer may well be harder work than last for Barcelona. Is it fair to say that his arrival might have improved Barcelona, but stilted their development?

Messi would have provided a jump in quality, but completely altered their shape, and repotted all of their growing saplings. His impact is such that once again the Blaugrana would be in a short-term ‘win now’ mode – you can’t gradually fade Messi out and keep the same system. Last season they won La Liga but looked so dramatically far away from the Champions League, perhaps the ‘loss’ of his signing isn’t so dramatic. He might have helped guide the youngsters, but he also would have changed the entire direction of the team.

Key Need: The idea of this section is to highlight the one priority above all else, and according to Xavi, that is the pivot position. Without Busquets, one of Gundogan, de Jong, or in an unlikely event Franck Kessie will have to play in front of the defence should no replacement come in. De Jong looked competent, but not altogether comfortable when he was asked to play the role last season, which is an improvement on previous attempts. Like Gundogan though, there is a feeling that this is not the best use of his abilities, although Jules Kounde will point out that that doesn’t necessarily count for much.

Oriol Romeu is the current (this could change next week) favourite for the role, and if their costs are limited, then recruiting one of the best pivots in La Liga last season, who came up through the academy, is not the worst idea. Romeu will be 32 this autumn but in response to their financial inability to find the ideal Busquets replacement, could provide a fall-back option that may tie them over for a year or two at least domestically. Even then, it is tricky to imagine Xavi benching one of Gavi or de Jong for Romeu in the big games next season.

In honour of Kounde’s efforts, it would be remiss not to mention the right-back spot still as a problem position. The more conservative play of Kounde did balance them nicely last season – with a fourth midfielder in, and Alejandro Balde streaming forward down the left instead of a winger. Yet his play in the final months of the season betrayed the fact that he was neither comfortable nor content out there near the touchline. A keen reminder that while he occupied the position last season, the name plate on the office door is still blank. It might well be him next season, he will probably play well, but that doesn’t mean it can be taken off Mateu Alemany’s long to-do list.

Beneath the Surface: Nothing goes under the radar at Barcelona these days, as information, some of it accurate, some of it less so, flows out of Camp Nou faster than the Ebro. Yet their pursuit of Vitor Roque is symptomatic of a wider problem. Unless Robert Lewandowski is scoring, Barcelona are struggling. Ansu was Barcelona’s second-top La Liga scorer last season, something that has been used to argue his case for more minutes, but just as easily illustrates their significant struggles in the department.

The talk is that they want 18-year-old talent Roque to join this summer if possible, and by January at the latest. Ansu, regardless of the goals he scored, looked less than reliable, Torres’ continues to go through a purgatory in front of goal, and neither looked assured as a number nine. Raphinha came up with some important strikes, as did Ousmane Dembele, but from October onwards Barcelona lacked goal threat outside of the Polish striker.

To increase that threat, an alternative both in terms of resting Lewandowski and perhaps even someone to play with him in certain situations, Roque would add a new dimension to Xavi’s squad. Many commented that Barcelona’s defensive numbers were deceptive last season, and while they were good, they cannot afford to rely on them being historically so next campaign. If Roque does not arrive until January, without a preseason, coming into a side midway through the campaign, it will likely be late February at the latest before Lewandowski can rest comfortably.