Why Barcelona have struggled with transfers
With a mere 2 days left of the January transfer window, Barcelona have reportedly launched 2 late transfer pushes. According to Sky, the Catalan outfit launched an £85m bid for Everton's Brazilian forward, Richarlison, and a £20m bid for Chelsea's Willian. A key reason for this late rush could be Barca's recent shambles regarding the managerial position.
Barcelona recently appointed Quique Setién as Ernesto Valverde's successor, but the process was far from simple. In fact, Setién may have been as low as fourth on Barca's shortlist. Both former Barcelona legend, Xavi and current Netherlands manager, Ronald Koeman, were formerly approached by the Barça hierarchy. However, both men rejected Barcelona, at least in the short term. Koeman was potentially interested in taking the position, but only after this summers Euros. Xavi was also interested in taking the role long term, but had reservations about the timing of the offer. Xavi is, reportedly close friends with Barcelona presidential candidate, Victor Font. Font has previously stated, if he wins the club's 2021 presidential election, he would appoint Xavi as manager. This, combined with the political turmoil and uncertainty in the Barça hierarchy - due to the upcoming election, may have caused Xavi to decide to wait till after the elections. Mauricio Pochettino was also allegedly approached for the role, but declined out of loyalty to his former club and Barça's local rivals, Espanyol. As such, the Blaugrana ended up with what was potentially only their fourth choice manager, Quique Setién. Such uncertainty, combined with being unable to consult a manager on potential transfers, will have played a role in pushing Barcelona's transfer business to the end of the window. Another issue to come from this is Setién's long term future at the club. Likely as a consequence of being fourth choice, Setién only signed a 2-year deal. Meaning there is no guarantee he is the club's long term plans, especially with the clubs first 2 choices already admitting openness to a summer move.
Barcelona's transfer struggles haven't been confined to this transfer window alone though. Again, these struggles all seemed to stem from the upcoming presidential elections. Current president, Josep Bartomeu is growingly unpopular amongst some sections of the Blaugrana faithful. One of the reasons for this, seemingly, is a failure to bring the Champions League back to the Camp Nou. Another seems to be the fans upset at the team losing its identity. In order to quash these complaints, Bartomeu is, seemingly, becoming obsessed with bringing the biggest names to the club. He spent the entire summer attempting to bring Neymar back to the club, only for nothing to come of the pursuit. He also parted with huge money to bring Antoine Griezmann to the club, deeply damaging their relationship with fellow La Liga club, Atlético Madrid. A deal that actually led to talks of lawsuits between the 2 clubs. Griezmann has had a slow start to life at Camp Nou, and this is likely due to the fact he has spent much of the season playing out of position. The Frenchman has struggled to fit into an attack consisting of himself, Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi. Griezmann cannot play on the left to the same effect as Neymar, and is simply too old to really be considered an heir to Suárez. Making the deal seem like a desperate attempt at a big name, rather than a well thought-out, tactical purchase.
Prioritising big names over astute, sensible signings seems to be a recurring theme as of late at Barcelona. Bartomeu's sanction of the £130m Coutinho deal has similarly ended on a sour note - with the Brazilian now out on loan at Bayern Munich. In a similar manner to the Griezmann signing, the Coutinho deal also made little tactical sense. The Brazilian was expected to replace the outgoing Neymar, despite having nothing in common with his playstyle. This lead to an underwhelming impact on the pitch and a tactical headache for the manager.
What Barca seem to need more than ever right now is stability, a decisive outcome at the next election, and the long term future of the managerial position sorted. This would allow for more long-term, well-researched transfers to come to fruition.
Also read: 5 of the most shocking Barcelona transfers in history