Image Credit: Sports Vision License
Barcelona had a turbulent summer of transfer turmoil, centered on the team's plan to bring in new blood on a massive scale, and had to eliminate several players in order to comply with the salary cap. Stars such as midfielders F.de Jong and Braithwaite were on the verge of leaving, and Barcelona even threatened to take F.de Jong to court at one point. However, F.de Jong's decision to stay was partly due to the yearly salary increases in his contract. But this was also the main reason why Barcelona wanted him to leave. The two sides were at loggerheads for a while, but in the end, before the transfer window closed, F.de Jong stayed in the team, and Barcelona completed the registration of all players.
Barcelona's lineup this season
In order to create a new Barcelona, President Laporta can be said to be doing everything possible to raise funds. He confessed that when he took over the team, the club has been in arrears for three weeks, creditors want to claim back 200 million euros, while Barcelona is too shy to pay the salaries, and even said that Barcelona has been hanging on by a thread at that time.
However, Laporta has since made key decisions, with all players taking pay cuts and selling off the club's assets, including the TV rights for the next 25 years, even selling them in two tranches of 10% and 15%, eventually managing to pay off the debt and raise funds for summer transfers.
In fact, Barcelona's transfer has long been launched, a number of transactions are nearly finalized, just waiting for the funds in place. This decisive decision by Laporta has reduced Barcelona's future earnings but ensured that the funds were in place at the crucial moment to complete all the deals. I think Laporta's decision was the right one, otherwise the team would have faced a collapse and it would have been difficult to turn around for many years to come.
the back line
Image Credit: Sports Vision License
Barcelona's backline has been criticized over the years, but this summer Barcelona made drastic changes to the backline. They brought in two key players from Chelsea, center back Christensen and left back M. Alonso. Danish center back Christensen is not only capable of playing as a center back in a four back system, but can also adapt to a three center back system, making him an all-rounder. Although he has not yet peaked in the Premier League, he is undoubtedly strong against the run of play in La Liga, where he arrives to replace Pique.
M.Alonso is also an all-round left-back, able to play both in a four-back system and a five-back system, with a high degree of midfield attributes. Both players have experienced three years of Chelsea's managerial change and formation change, and being able to stay in the team as a starter during such a period shows that they have a strong ability to adapt. M. Alonso, in particular, is the main outlet on the left side in Chelsea's 343 formation, and is no longer just a left back, but a left defender and left winger who can enter the midfield to assist in the organization, and constantly deliver deadly passes forward. The arrival of these two is also due to the change of ownership at Chelsea, Christensen is young and looking for future development, while M.Alonso is 31 years old and with the competition in the Premier League set to become more and more intense for him, it makes sense to go back to Spain, where he was an exchange player for Barcelona's sale of Aubameyang to Chelsea.
Image Credit: Sports Vision License
Another important player is Kounde, Sevilla's Kounde has been quite hot in recent years and already has a record of playing for France in the 2021 UEFA Nations Cup. He's an attacking center back, and at only 178cm, he's a bit short for a center back, so he can play as a versatile center back at right back. We have seen Kounde constantly press the opponent forward in recent Barcelona matches, and this arrangement is quite Barcelona style, where even the center backs have the ability to press forward, rather than just defending.
Kounde's signing took a few twists and turns, as Barcelona were at one point unable to register him due to the salary cap, which made it quite awkward for him as well, having already joined the team and having to wait to register, and possibly not even being allowed to do so. Fortunately, he eventually managed to register and join Camp Nou.
Barcelona's defense is now in a critical period of transition between the old and the new, and a lot of fans aren't happy about it, and this transition has been imperative for a long time. Therefore, when you see Christensen, M.Alonso, Kounde are coming to Barcelona, you can know that Barcelona want to send away the old players, at least it will be Pique and Jordi.Alba. At present, Araujo and EricGarcia's position in Barcelona is still quite solid. In order to strengthen the back line, Barcelona bought Bellerin from Arsenal before the transfer window closed, and the homesick Barcelona veteran finally made it back home (he's from Barcelona's youth academy).
