Defense? Barcelona keep on trying to add more quality pieces to their scary offense, as it seems their pursuing of Colombian winger Juan Cuadrado of Fiorentina is finally coming to an end, with the deal being closer than ever to being finalized.
What’s so special this time as opposed to everything else that has happened in the last six weeks? Cuadrado has been pulled out of the Fiorentina squad to face Real Madrid in a preseason match, which is usually one step closer to a team announcing their player is leaving.
Obviously, other things might be possible, but there hasn’t been any report of an injury or something like that. Cuadrado has also been chased by Manchester United, but when it comes to head to head battles with other big clubs in Europe, it’s quite rare to see Manchester United winning that kind of battle.
Is this Barcelona officially becoming Real Madrid? Something along those lines. Their youth system is still the best in the world, but their golden generation which led to three Champions League titles in six seasons is on its deathbed. You don’t replace that kind of success with more academy products, not every year. This is the kind of talent that comes up once in a much longer time.
So how do you make up for that? Buy. Barcelona did sell Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez to help out with dwindling bank account, while they spend big on players like Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic, and also defenders such as Jeremy Mathieu and Thomas Vermaelen, signings that have raised an eyebrow or two for the price they’ve paid and the quality of players they’ve signed.
It’s an interesting batch of forwards Barcelona, if they do sign Cuadrado, are brewing up for next season. They already have Neyamr, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez; all players who feel comfortable playing in the middle, but can do more than that. There’s Pedro, who is a winger and nothing else, and Cuadrado might be joining the list, also a winger but one that does a lot more than just attack.