Barcelona are in deep trouble. They have had been involved with a lot of incidents off the pitch this season in regards to the Neymar tax affair and questions over Martino’s management style, but this does not compare to the fact they will be banned for the next two transfer windows. (If you want to read an in-depth report on the affair then read Ben Kerr’s article here).
The implications of this transfer ban on Barcelona can be potentially quite severe in a myriad of ways. Firstly, the club’s reputation as a “club for the people” could be viewed with damning negativity. Secondly, the way they do business, including the way they recruit players under the age of 18 may have an effect on how they develop their talents—think Lionel Messi being imported in from his native Argentina. They could also face a big impact in how well they do next season too considering a couple of transfers are in jeopardy and the fact they will lose the likes of Victor Valdes and Carlos Puyol.
The club will have a chance to appeal on the decision. Chelsea had faced a similar situation not too long ago when they signed Gael Kakuta from Lens. FIFA initially put a transfer embargo on the London club for two years before the side from south London got the decision reversed. Yet, one could think that FIFA may look unfavourably on Barcelona especially after the way they handled Neymar’s transfer.
The impact it could have on the Catalonian club, as well as the La Liga table, could be quite big in the short term. As mentioned earlier, both veteran goalkeeper Victor Valdes and centre back Carlos Puyol are leaving the club, the former on a free, the latter hanging up his boots.
They have a couple of ways of going about this. They could either convince the players to stay on for one more season or they could be left vulnerable.
Valdes’s departure will mean that they will be down to two goalkeepers, the 38 year old Pinto and Oier Olazabal which is hardly inspiring. On the upside Valdes’ injury means he will be out for around seven months and therefore no European club might be willing to take the risk of taking him on and help his rehabilitation. It also means the likes of Pepe Reina, Asmir Begovic and Hugo Lloris, who have been linked with Barcelona are going to stay at their clubs.
Other players staying at their clubs include Vincent Kompany and David Luiz after the Barcelona ban means their interest (at least from Barcelona’s perspective) will die down. Barcelona are desperate to get a new centre back after Puyol’s announcement on his retirement at the end of the season.
With the ban in place, Barca have only got two proper centre backs on their team in Gerard Pique and Marc Barta. They often rely on the defensive midfield talents of Javier Mascherano or Alex Song to acts as backups in the CB position and Puyol’s departure could really threaten their chances of pushing for any title.
On the flip side, Puyol hardly plays a full 90 minutes these days and just like his predecessors, Martino tends to partner Mascherano with mainstay Pique at the back. Yet without the knowledge of Puyol being there ready to play, and considering Pique can be quite injury prone too, it leaves them pretty exposed at the back. Combine this with the departure of Valdes and we could be looking at the title going to Madrid in the 2014/15 season.
The blow caused by the ban and the loss of Valdes could be soften if the agreed deal for Borussia Monchengladbach’s young German goalkeeper Marc Andre ter Stegen is allowed to go through as planned. Ter Stegen has the potential to be a great goalkeeper and Barcelona love building up young players. Yet this all depends if the imposed ban causes this transfer as well as Croatian youngster Alen Halilovic to fall through. If that does happen then Barcelona are in massive trouble.
The implications of course far extend beyond next season. The way they recruit young players will be looked at closely by football’s governing bodies and it is believed (according to the Daily Mail) that the English clubs who are entering the Champions League next year could be investigated too. This transfer ban could very well not just shake how youngsters are recruited by Barcelona but with other major clubs too.
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