Comments on: Will Politics Dictate Whether Barcelona Make the Big Signing?

By: Victor Li

Victor Li — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:49:23 +0000

Ahmed – I read about the rumored Beckham-for-Figo swap in one of the many biographies of Beckham. Not sure which one it was. Not sure how serious the rumors were. It’s certainly possible given how things were deteriorating between Beckham and Ferguson.

By: Eddie Griffin

Eddie Griffin — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:56:13 +0000

Barcelona have been big spenders this summer, and they’ve also done some good sales and stand to do another one (with Eto’o). But, I don’t know if they necessarily need to make that blockbuster signing so much as a quality one (which may not cost them 30m euros or more).

But, if they do make that big signing, it’ll likely be a forward.

All in all, they should walk away from the summer with no reason not to have a great ’08-09 campaign.

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:51:14 +0000

With Ronaldinho it was more of a case of trying to push him out of the door than anything else.

Beckham – United wanted to sell to Barca as they asked first, but Becks chose Madrid. Not sure about the 2000 deal Victor.

Dan – Alves and Pique are excellent players. Keita and Caceres will be good squad players. Hleb – well it depends on which Hleb shows up but Barca need a good target man to make players like Hleb effective.

The best decision Barca could make would be to shift Henry upfront.

By: Victor Li

Victor Li — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:34:29 +0000

Welcome aboard, Dan. Not sure if the Ronaldinho situation is comparable to Figo. After all, Ronaldinho had one foot out the door ever since December. Figo’s departure was more of a shock. Barcelona had more time to formulate a strategy this time around.

As for the Beckham situation, Man. U really did try to sell him to Barca on two separate occasions. Once in 2000 in a straight-up deal for Figo, then again in 2003 when Beckham ended up in Madrid. I’m sure Laporta tried to exploit the situation for his own reelection prospects, but they really did try to get Becks.