Grading Barcelona's Transfer Window Activity
Heading into the summer playing catchup to their rivals, having changed manager and knowing several star players' futures needed resolving, 2017 was always going to be an important one for Barcelona.
Signings and sales needed to be balanced, as did renewals of contracts, but the 2017/18 campaign got under way without all issues being completely resolved, much to the annoyance of many fans.
Now the transfer window is shut in La Liga, just how did Barca do overall? Here we look at each area of the pitch and assess the activity of the club in the market, not just with new signings but with what was required judging on last season's performances and where the rumours suggested they were hoping to do business.
Goalkeepers
No work was needed in this area for Barcelona, other than to persuade Jasper Cillessen that he should continue at the club as Marc-Andre ter Stegen's understudy.
They are two excellent stoppers, both with further growth left in their game, and both have remained in place.
GK Grade: A
Defenders
There was far more work to do in the back line, however.
Naturally the biggest issue of last season was at right-back, where Luis Enrique attempted to fit a number of players into varying systems: Javier Mascherano right of a back three, Ivan Rakitic on the right side of a diamond midfield in front of a back three and a six-game run of form for Aleix Vidal (having previously been ostracised entirely) were the highlights.
The left didn't need touching, and the centre also looked fine in fairness, pending fitness and organisation into a regular system once more.
Gerard Pique's form has fluctuated, but Samuel Umtiti was a star of last term, and Mascherano and Marlon provided ample depth, even with Jeremy Mathieu's departure—which itself was necessary due to his advancing age and falling standards.
Thomas Vermaelen's return from loan was met with reports that he could soon be leaving, per Sky Sports' Aidan Magee, while other reports intimated new boss Ernesto Valverde wanted a new central defender, with Inigo Martinez earning top billing, per Marca's Oscar Badallo.
It didn't happen. Barca dropped their interest and no central defenders were added to the pool, leaving Vermaelen to be the fourth option after Marlon was loaned out to Ligue 1.
Does it leave them stronger or weaker in the centre of defence? If Vermaelen stays fit and can be called upon when needed, it's arguably stronger. Umtiti will improve again, and the car-crash performances of Mathieu are now a thing of the past.
On the right, the signing of Nelson Semedo was necessary, intelligent and, above all, excellent business.
He has the physical capacity to add drive and penetration into the final third, links up well on the ball moving forward and can be a threat with his short-range deliveries into the box. This might be not just Barcelona's best work of the summer but one of the finest additions in La Liga.
DF grade: B+
Midfielders
A promising start to the gradings, but it's the centre of the park that initially needed most work for Barcelona this summer.
Andres Iniesta's advancing years, a lack of top-tier quality to bring off the bench and a succession of underperforming recent signings—Andre Gomes heading the list, Denis Suarez and Arda Turan not far behind—meant something of an overhaul was required.
They haven't really managed it.
The summer-long chase for Paulinho was as perplexing and overstated as his eventual €40 million fee. He's a good addition, but he was the primary target, the absolute first pick, and he's not good enough for that billing. Tactically, he can bring balance to the side in a range of systems, and his athleticism is something Barca's midfield has lacked, but there's no getting away from the fact he's a complete departure from their normal type.
Once again, Barca tasted defeat in a reported chase of Paris Saint-Germain's Marco Verratti, another key target per Sport, and the only other business in the middle of the park was to loan out Sergi Samper.
Barca have numbers in midfield, plenty of options with Rafinha and Sergi Roberto included, but are they able to sustain elite performances regularly?
Simply put, a first-choice trio of Sergio Busquets, Rakitic and Paulinho doesn't strike fear into opponents.
Missing out on Philippe Coutinho and Angel Di Maria after ludicrously public chases, as noted by Sport's Javier Giraldo, merely makes the club something of a bad joke.
MF grade: D
Forwards
What do you do when you've got Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez as your front three? You keep them happy, simple.
Instead, Barcelona lost Neymar by force to PSG, haven't gotten Messi to sign his new contract and have already lost Suarez to injury once.
A world-record fee received for Neymar is fine recompense, but Barcelona were effectively held at gunpoint to sign Ousmane Dembele in his stead, forced to pay way over the odds for the talented but still somewhat raw France international simply because Borussia Dortmund—along with every other club—knew Barca had funds and needed to buy.
The return to the Camp Nou of Gerard Deulofeu is useful on a squad level, but he's hardly the elite level of the MSN attack and will only come in and out of the side as individual form and team results dictate.
FW grade: C+
Overall
Good work in the back line, where it was needed, but Barcelona have fallen markedly short in the next two thirds of the pitch.
Another creative, controlling central midfielder was an absolute necessity, and a reliable addition to the front line—be it a back-up striker or a more experienced, versatile wide option—should have been brought in as soon as it became apparent that Neymar could leave.
Ending the season with the likes of Arda Turan, Andre Gomes and Munir El Haddadi still in the squad is worse than pointless, it's a drain on resources, and the players are unlikely to contribute enough in Valverde's system.
The new manager is going to find it hard to keep pace with Real Madrid unless the two new big additions, Paulinho and Dembele, hit the ground running and provide the team with a new dynamic that takes opposition teams by surprise.
Overall transfer window grade: C. Enough to remain top two or three in La Liga, but the gap to the top could widen.
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