Rating Barcelona's summer signings
The last summer was a busy one for Barcelona as the Catalans splashed a mouth watering 157 million to sign seven players. Since they were aware of the transfer ban which was looming over their head at that time, Barcelona decided to invest big in that window to address all their problems in the squad.They captured the controversial frontman Luis Suarez from Liverpool despite being aware of his ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini in the World Cup. They signed a midfielder Ivan Rakitic, along with three defenders Jeremy Mathieu, Thomas Vermaelen, Douglas Periera and a couple of goalkeepers Claudio Bravo and Marc-Andre ter Stegen.With half way gone in the season, Barcelona are not exactly where the fans would have wished for them to be in the league table. So let us look at how the new signings have performed so far in the season:
#1 Luis Suarez
Despite Suarez being one of football's most divisive figures, his inability to stay out of trouble has overshadowed his potential. His talent has never been in question, but controversy never seems to be far from him, making it all the more surprising that Barcelona gambled £75 million on taking him to Camp Nou from Liverpool last summer.
The year of 2014 perfectly described Suarez career so far in the footballing world. He finished the 2013-14 season as the Premier League's top scorer after bagging an astounding 31 goals from just 33 games. Then came the World Cup debacle, from being the two goal-hero against England, controversy once again loomed him in the following match for biting Chiellini, which resulted in a four-month ban from football.
After missing the opening exchanges, the Uruguayan made his debut in El Clasico. Within four minutes Suarez showed his ability by playing a major role in Neymar's opener. However, Barcelona never managed to build on the lead and collapsed to a 3-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabau.
Since then he has managed to have an indifferent season for Barcelona. He has so far scored six goals and manged 10 assists for Barcelona. The real question is – Has he made the right decision to join a team which already has Lionel Messi and Neymar in his position? Only time will tell.
Rating – 7/10