Barcelona Transfer News: Barca Will Regret Not Signing Centre-Back

It is now September 2, and the transfer window is just hours from closing, meaning clubs would be unable to strengthen their squads again until next January. For some clubs it will be a day of heavy activity; however, that does not appear to be the case for La Liga champions Barcelona.

It had been expected that the summer window would finally see Barca act upon a longstanding need for a new central defender. Thus far, though, that has not happened, with Neymar the club's only major signing this summer.

According to reports over the last couple of weeks, including from ESPN FC Spanish correspondent Dermot Corrigan, the club are not planning to make any last-minute moves for central-defensive recruits.

The news will have most observers dumbfounded, with Barcelona having been forced to use makeshift centre-backs on a semi-regular basis over the past couple of years. It had been widely assumed that this was the summer that the club would finally act upon their need.

At present, the club have three recognised centre-backs on their books in Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol and Marc Bartra. Add in Javier Mascherano, who has regularly featured in the position over recent seasons, and the club have four decent options.

They are not, however, anywhere near the overall standard of the defensive options available to many of their European rivals. Mascherano is not an ideal centre-back, Bartra remains largely untested, while Puyol has not started more than 25 league games in any of the last three seasons.

Ideally, a top partner for the almost ever-present Pique would have been found, and Bartra, who undoubtedly has potential, could have been allowed to obtain regular playing time elsewhere.

There is even an argument that a second centre-back signing would have been useful, given the departure of Eric Abidal earlier this summer.

Barcelona have not had an easy summer, with the sad end to the Tito Vilanova reign at the club an unavoidable disruption. New manager Tata Martino, though, has now had several weeks to settle in at the club and evaluate his options but looks to have chosen to stick with his current ranks.

If injuries were to strike later in the campaign, Barcelona can really have no excuse for their inactivity.

Daniel Agger, David Luiz and Thiago Silva are among those to have been linked with a move to the Camp Nou this summer, as reported by John Cross of the Mirror, but none has been secured. It is a story that has now repeated over several transfer windows.

Barcelona's attacking talents will mean that it will be a while before we really know the cost of their inactivity, with La Liga proving little test for Spain's leading two clubs thus far in the new season.

Once bigger European ties start stacking up, however, we will begin to see whether Martino and his side will count the cost of their inactivity. If they do, they can only look at themselves.