Barcelona Still Focusing on Youth Transfer Targets Despite Summer Raids

Barcelona struck hard and fast in the transfer market this summer. For the most part, it seemed they knew exactly what they were after, and they went about getting it in a bloody-minded way.

In the modern, always-connected world—where minutiae about every move appears on Twitter and gets turned into entire news stories—transfer deals can feel like they are dragging on forever.

But when you look back at what Barcelona did in the summer, everything was concluded quickly, with the exception of their final signing, Paco Alcacer. 

That was because sporting director Robert Fernandez had a plan.

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In July 2015, he took over the role Andoni Zubizarreta had held until he was sacked in January of the same year and got to working on his idea.

The signings made in his first year at the club were two players coach Luis Enrique had asked for and the sporting director had nothing to do with. In fact, the deal to sign Arda Turan had been agreed before Fernandez joined.

Fernandez’s aim, with the backing of Luis Enrique, was to freshen up Barcelona’s squad by adding talented young players who could be relied upon now if needed but were ostensibly for the club’s future.

Andres Iniesta and Javier Mascherano are two of the eldest members in the squad, and the club need talent ready to step in for them when they do go. That’s why Andre Gomes and Samuel Umtiti were signed, with the latter surprisingly close already to getting into the first XI on a regular basis in the Argentinian’s place.

Lucas Digne was added to offer Jordi Alba competition and potentially be the man who replaces the left-back when his pace fades, while Denis Suarez was an obvious option to be brought back to the club as a talented, versatile midfielder. 

Those four players were all 22 years old when they signed. The other two signings, Alcacer and Jasper Cillessen—23 and 27, respectively—also fit the bill.

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Alcacer was needed as someone willing to learn and bide their time behind the MSN—Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar—trio, while Cillessen is the replacement for Claudio Bravo, who joined Manchester City. 

Bearing in mind he’s a goalkeeper, Cillessen still has his best years ahead of him. That said, his age mattered less because Marc-Andre ter Stegen is likely to be Barcelona’s goalkeeper in the long term.

Signing young players instead of players at their peak is not just a fad Barcelona are going through, though, it is a continuing process. Of course, they may still make big signings in the future—the Luis Suarez deal in 2014 showed that if the factors are right, then striking while the iron is hot for a big star is perfectly acceptable.

However, both the manager and the club are happy with the first-team squad—apart from Aleix Vidal, who has been left out for the last six games by Luis Enrique—and the emphasis will be on securing the club’s future. That is reflected by many of the transfer stories produced in recent weeks.

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Sport drew up a list of five South American stars Barcelona have been tracking. Four of them are 19 years old—Thiago Maia (Santos), Francisco Sierralta (CD Palestino), Jeisson Vargas (Estudiantes de La Plata) and Oscar Estupinan (Once Caldas)—while Carlos Ibarguen (Tigres) has just turned 21. 

Then they have also been linked to Chelsea centre-back Andreas Christensen by Alan Nixon of the Sun, with the 20-year-old impressing against them in the Champions League this season for Borussia Monchengladbach, where he is currently on loan.

Nixon wrote: “Christensen could head to the Camp Nou either in the next window or more likely at the end of this season. Barca see him as a ball-playing centre-half and an ideal partner and long-term replacement for Gerard Pique.”

Of course, transfer stories should usually be taken with a pinch of salt. Many names are linked to clubs, and the bigger the club, the more names are linked. They don’t come bigger than Barcelona.

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That said, it does seem youth is still on the agenda. In general, this is a good development for Barcelona, but it comes at one cost—a high one for many fans who rightfully are proud of the club’s youth development system.

This generation of Barcelona fans has seen La Masia produce and bring through many stars, and if the club are signing players aged between 18 and 23, it blocks the paths of many who might be nearly ready to feature. 

There has been much consternation among supporters—who heavily back the youth system—about the club’s signings in recent years, with players such as Alex Grimaldo being allowed to leave.

How much emphasis Barcelona should put on La Masia is a constant debate in the Catalan capital, because if they play the situation badly they could miss out on some brilliant players by backing a home-grown dud.

Perhaps another aspect of Barcelona’s recent transfer policy highlights the best way for the club to operate in this situation. 

Denis Suarez’s deal to move on loan to Sevilla and then be sold to Villarreal was carefully structured to ensure Barcelona could buy him back for a cheap price—€3.25 million. That way the player develops elsewhere, and if he does prove good enough, the Camp Nou side can bring him back in.

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Most players who develop in La Masia dream of playing for the first team one day, so it usually won’t be hard to convince them to return.

The cost of this is that they do not spend years learning how to play “the Barcelona way”, as Iniesta, Messi, Sergio Busquets and others did, but then even that isn’t such a big deal nowadays.

Luis Enrique has modified the club’s style from Pep Guardiola’s era, and who’s to say the next coach won’t modify it again?

Of course, fans won’t accept it moving too far from the attacking, flowing formula, but then it’s up to Barcelona to decide who they will loan their players to. 

Playing for Sevilla and Villarreal was a good education for Denis Suarez in two different styles, and it doesn’t seem like he’s out of step with the way the Catalans play now that he’s back.

Selling La Masia talents with buyback clauses doesn’t make the “youth-obsessed” sector of Barcelona fans happy, but it looks a good solution to the problem created by buying younger players for the first team.

With Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid hit by FIFA transfer bans, Barcelona’s idea of hoovering up young talent could prove especially profitable in a few years’ time.

Rik Sharma is Bleacher Report's lead Barcelona correspondent. All information and quotes obtained firsthand unless specified. Follow him on Twitter here: @riksharma_.