CONFIRMED: Barcelona set to sign 2 players
What’s the story?
Barcelona are close to completing deals for Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele according to Pep Segura. The Catalan club's general manager was talking to TV3 after the Super Copa loss to Real Madrid when he confirmed that the deals were set to be completed soon.
"We know that we have to strengthen the team and that's what we will continue to do in the coming days. We have to help the team. We're close [to Coutinho and Dembele], we're talking about the conditions but until everything is finalised, we can't say anything else. We hope they will wear a Barca shirt." said Segura to TV3 (via SPORT)
Also read: Chelsea star ready to snub Real Madrid and join Barcelona
In case you didn’t know...
Barcelona were left stunned by Paris Saint-Germain at the start of this month when they came in and activated Neymar's €222 million release clause. The Brazilian superstar did not hesitate and jumped the ship - leaving the Catalan side in a handicapped state.
The transfer record was broken, MSN was broken and Barcelona fans had their hearts broken! There was nothing Barcelona, La Liga or UEFA could do about it.
Also read: 5 ideal replacements for Neymar at Barcelona
The heart of the matter
Philippe Coutinho was the subject of two bids from the Barcelona in the last 2 weeks. The most recent bid was reportedly worth €100 million but turned down last week.
Following the bid, Liverpool released a statement saying that they will not consider any bid for the Brazilian this summer and are not willing to sell him. The Red, however, were left stunned as Coutinho handed in a transfer 2 hours after the statement was released by the club!
Meanwhile, in Germany, Borussia Dortmund were facing a different issue with Barcelona target, Ousmane Dembele. The player was so keen on joining the Catalan side that he skipped training after Barcelona submitted a €100 million bid for him and had even booked tickets to Spain.
BVB refused to bow down and rejected the bid straight away. Dembele was suspended and is now trying all he can to force a move to Camp Nou.
Also read: Former Real Madrid star ready to join Barcelona
What’s next?
Barcelona kick off their La Liga campaign this Sunday when they take on Real Betis at Camp Nou. They will have to register players by tomorrow if they want to feature them in the season opener but that look unlikely to happen as the clubs need to seal the deal, complete the paperwork and the player has to undergo his medical as well.
Author’s Take
It's tough to argue if Barcelona are spending wisely or not. The players they are signing are of top quality without a doubt but are they worth over €100 million each? Even in this market, it's difficult to justify it.
Every club around the world knows that Barcelona have over €222 million just because of the Neymar's transfer to Paris Saint-Germain. And that means that there is a huge void to fill and the club will do anything to get a player in.
Because of that, any club Barcelona approaches will be over charging them. If Manchester United were to sell Martial and Barcelona approach them, they will immediately raise the price by 1.5x to 2.5x – it's like Uber charging a surge price because they know you NEED the cab to get home when it's pouring outside.
Also read: Real Madrid to make €85 million + Kovacic bid for Barcelona's top target