FC Barcelona Transfers: Top 5 Midfielders Who Could Make Barça Better
FC Barcelona has the best midfield in the world.
Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets are probably all in the Top 10 midfielders at the moment, and Barça also has world-class talent on the bench in the feet of Seydou Keita and Javier Mascherano.
However, that makes five men for three spots, leaving one roster spot open for another midfielder to come in and further boost the Catalan giants' midfield.
They seem set in the defensive midfielder position with Mascherano and Busquets. Yet in the creative midfielder position, Xavi is getting up in years, and they do need another playmaker to fill in as a sub and as an eventual replacement for Barcelona's No. 6.
The idea of a player coming in and constructing an even better midfield for Barça is a scary thought, but this list will try to find five suitable candidates that can come in to Pep Guardiola's possession based tiki-taka style and improve it.
For this daunting task, we will judge each player on what they would hypothetically cost, on what they would bring to Pep tactically, and (most importantly) how well they fit to the system that is already in place at Camp Nou.
10 Others Who Came Close to Making the List...
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These players fit Barça's playing style and could make them better, but were defeated by the five top candidates on this list.
Yoann Gourcuff, 24 years old, Olimpique Lyon, €27 million.
Luka Modric, 25 years old, Tottenham Hotspur, €35 million
Wesley Sneijder, 26 years old, Inter Milan, €45 million
Javi Martínez, 22 years old, Athletic Bilbao, €30 million
Riccardo Montolivo, 26 years old, Fiorentina, €25 million
Jonathan dos Santos, 21 years old, Barcelona B, free.
Étienne Capoue, 22 years old, FC Toulouse, €12 million
Borja Valero, 26 years old, Villarreal, €15 million
Michael Essien, 28 years old, Chelsea FC, €35 million
Claudio Marchisio, 25 years old, Juventus, €25 million
5. Mesut Özil
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Age: 22 years old
Nationality: German/Turkish
Height: 1.82
Team: Real Madrid CF
Transfer Market Value: €55 million
Won't be sold for less than: €100 to 150 million (maybe more)
Why he fits Barça's style:
If there's one player who smells, feels and looks like a Barça player, it's Mesut Özil. Just imagining him next to Messi, Xavi & Co. seems like a perfect fit.
He has everything: technique, passing ability, creativity and flair. Simply put, he's a Barcelona player in and out. Except for one very small detail. He plays for Real Madrid.
So even though he would fit perfectly and would improve an already fantastic midfield, it will never come to be.
It is speculated Barça had their chance to sign him for less than €10 million last summer from Werder Bremen. They will regret not making that move.
Transfer Value:
Paying €100 million plus for a rival's star player just won't happen, so the value's terrible even in the odd chance it does. That's mostly the only reason he's not No. 1 on this list.
Tactical improvements:
If Özil would land in Barça, he would most likely not be a tactical improvement, but would make the rich even richer.
Overall Improvement Grade: C
Getting Özil would be an 'A+' in potential an talent, but since it has almost 0 percent chance of happening and would come at a stupid cost...'C' is a more fitting grade.
4. Sergi Roberto
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Age: 19 years old
Nationality: Spanish
Height: 1.81
Team: FC Barcelona B
Transfer Market Value: €5 million
Won't be sold for less than: free (he's already a Barcelona player)
Why he fits Barça's style:
Sergi Roberto is a box-to-box midfielder that some scouts compare to Cesc Fábregas or Frank Lampard.
He's not the prototypical Barça midfielder and is more of a goal scorer and finisher than a playmaker.
That said, Sergi does have all the technical and passing abilities you expect from a La Masía prospect and has been trained in Barça's ways since a small child, so he already knows the system perfectly.
However, he is still young and needs another season to mature the mental aspects of the game.
Transfer Value:
Sergi's already contracted to Barça, so it's quite hard finding better value than something that comes free.
Tactical improvements:
Sergi Roberto's a piece Barça just doesn't have in its roster at the moment.
He could provide the goals from the midfielder line that Xavi and Iniesta lack.
Overall Improvement Grade: B
Sergi is most definitely a risky move considering he's only 19, but the talent and tactical need is there.
Not paying €50 million for an upgrade is certainly nice and puts him a notch over other candidates on this list.
3. Bastian Schweinsteiger
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Age: 26 years old
Nationality: German
Height: 1.83
Team: FC Bayern Munchen
Transfer Market Value: €40 million
Won't be sold for less than: €55 to 70 million
Why he fits Barça's style:
In a very close battle with Andrés Iniesta, I think Bastian Schweinsteiger is the second-best midfielder in the world next to Xavi.
He has superb technique and passing skill, and complements that with the ability to press and recover the ball all over the field.
All this from a player who started out his career as a winger.
Bastian is simply a must-buy for every top club in the world with a midfielder need right now.
But he will come at a price.
Transfer Value:
Bastian is worth €40, maybe 50 million. But paying more than that (which Bayern will most likely ask for) makes him lose a bit of his value.
Tactical improvements:
Schweinsteiger could be a more physical Xavi, without losing the touch Barça is known for.
Think of him as having the world's best Keita in Camp Nou's bench.
Overall Improvement Grade: B+
Bastian would definitely improve their midfield instantly.
But paying that much for a sub is just not very good value, even for someone with Schweinsteiger's quality.
2. Cesc Fabregas
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Age: 24 years old
Nationality: Spanish
Height: 1.79
Team: Arsenal FC
Transfer Market Value: €50 million
Won't be sold for less than: €50 to 70 million
Why he fits Barça's style:
Everybody knew Cesc Fábregas would be on this list.
Just as everybody knows Cesc has Barça's genes in his blood and will probably end up playing there one day.
He would presumably fit in every Barça midfield position and perhaps even as a false winger (like Iniesta).
That's just to exemplify how well he'd fit.
To those that might not get the hint: he fits Barcelona's philosophy like a glove.
Transfer Value:
Paying Cesc's real value: €50 to 70 million is definitely on the expensive side (specially after you read who's my number one on this list).
If Barcelona could somehow negotiate the transfer fee with Arsenal to something in the range of 35 to 45 million without giving up one of their youth players, it would make the operation reasonable for a player that would fundamentally be a bench-warmer until Xavi decides to leave.
Tactical improvements:
Cesc would bring goals from the midfield, and is more physical than Iniesta and Xavi.
He can also play as defensive midfielder and, possibly, winger.
Tactically, he's the piece Pep Guardiola is missing in midfield. It's as simple as that.
Overall Improvement Grade: A-
Cesc Fabregas would make Barça lots better, specially on the tactical side, and would bring even more resources to the world's best midfield.
He also has had the tiki-taka philosophy installed from a young age and knows the system perfectly.
This said, Barcelona will have to lower the transfer price if they want to turn it into a move with a value worth making.
1. Thiago Alcántara
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Age: 20 years old
Nationality: Spanish/Brazilian/Italian
Height: 1.70
Team: FC Barcelona
Transfer Market Value: €15 million (for now)
Won't be sold for less than: free (he's already a Barcelona player)
Why he fits Barça's style:
Thiago Alcántara has the flair on the ball that every world-class playmaker must have. He's the prototypical play-making Barça midfielder and a true heir to Xavi and Iniesta's throne.
He's been inbred with La Masia's playing style and fits the system perfectly, so there's no denying that he fits Pep's philosophy better than any other player on this list (including Cesc Fábregas, of course).
Transfer Value:
Like Sergi Roberto, having a youth player like Thiago come up to play for the first team is the best value you can get.
And let remember that this is Barcelona after all, a club known for creating stars and not buying them.
In that context, it just doesn't get better than having a midfielder need and having Thiago waiting on the wings ready to take the pitch.
Tactical improvements:
Thiago's a cross between Iniesta and Xavi, so he won't be as much of a tactical upgrade as Cesc or Sergi Roberto would be.
However, he seems like a very good substitute for either. Especially when you don't pay a single dime for him.
Overall Improvement Grade: A
If Barça buys somebody like Fábregas or Schweinsteiger and sells Thiago, it will probably still improve their midfield.
But the question is: where's the value in doing that when you have a rising star already there?
Thiago deserves a chance, and seems like the move to make given the high transfer fees you'd have to pay for other players (money that could be used in other positions to further improve the Blaugrana's team).
The midfielder who can improve Barça has been sitting at La Masía all along.
Exactly the way FC Barcelona likes it.
Follow me on Twitter @ehrli
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