Barca Seem To Be Turning a Leaf – But The Changes Are Only Beginning
By Jim James
Last Sunday, FC Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 4-2 in a stunning display in the first 50 minutes that saw them go up 4-1 at one point. However, if you thought that Xavi and Joan Laporta were done making changes to their squad in the rebuild, you are sorely mistaken. FC Barcelona’s rebuild is only in its early phase.
Of course, Barca’s CEO Ferran Reverter resigned earlier this week, most likely due to Barca’s sponsorship deal with Spotify. Also, today Laporta fired the club’s head of Medical Services, Dr. Ramon Canal, who had that position since 2006, after an injury crisis in late 2021 and Ansu Fati’s recurring injuries. This comes a few months after Xavi fired the entire Barca Medical team in November when he took over. However, the changes aren’t just coming in the medical team. Since Real Madrid pulled out of the Erling Haaland race, Barcelona have been gaining some serious steam and momentum in the deal and in my opinion, are now favorites bar none. Barca is also planning on making a few signings from Chelsea, most notably Cesar Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen. They are also in the race for Marcos Alonso (For Some Reason) and Antonio Rudiger to bolster their Defense options. They are also looking for a new CDM to replace an aging Sergio Busquets. Denis Zakaria joined Juventus and Barca have pulled out of the race for Franck Kessie, so they’re putting all their focus on Inter Midfielder Marcelo Brosovic.
Barca is also looking to go on a big selling spree this summer to afford all those shiny new signings. Potentially Samuel Umtiti, Clement Lenglet, Sergino Dest, Alex Balde, Martin Braithwaite, Frenkie de Jong, Oscar Mingueza among others to free up the wage bill.
It appears as well that Xavi is looking at changing Barca’s style of play, now that he has some more options, to be more attacking and free flowing. Even though Barca won’t have Dani Alves for the next three games (suspended for two La Liga games and ineligible for the Europa), I think Barca could do just as well with Sergino Dest at right back. Either way, Xavi looks like he’s bringing about a tactical revolution.
As you can see, the new era at Barca is beginning and Xavi and Laporta seem to be here for the long run. This club will look much, much different at the end of 2023 than it does now. I’m Jim James, Until next time.