Sunday 2 March 2008

A look at the coming transfer summer (2)

Last weekend Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo gave a global analysis of the possible transfer activity in the summer.

With relation to the incoming transfers, the paper states that the technical staff has three priorities: a right back defender, a central defender and a scoring midfielder.

For the right back position Inter defender Maicon (26) is being followed for a while now. At the moment he would be, together with Bayern Munich defender Philipp Lahm (24), the preferred option. Sevilla defender Daniel Alves (24) is a case apart: there are mixed opinions about the question if his capacities justify the huge transfer price.

The central defender the club is looking for should be a young player who can grow, who is strong and who has a good pass. Racing Santander defender Ezequiel Garay (21) fits this perfectly.

In midfield Barcelona wants to bring in a strong player, who can score ten goals in a season, who has a good distance shot and works hard. Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard (29) looks like the ideal candidate and there aren't many other options. Arsenal midfielder Aleksandr Hleb (26) could be an alternative, although he's a different type of player. Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Luka Modric (22) is looked at but will be hard to get since Chelsea will probably make a very high offer.

Up front Olympique Lyon forward Karim Benzema (20) is the main target. Barcelona could try in the coming months to get an option to buy the player in the summer of 2009. If Eto'o stays, Chelsea forward Didier Drogba (29) probably won't come.


(read here the first part of the analysis, concerning the outward transfers)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Like you will probably agree, pep, I think we need a winger (preferably a left footed one). And I think that's more urgent than a central defender or even a midfielder.

Unknown said...

thanks for the analysis Pep. Maicon, Lahm, or Alves would be great. I agree that Garay fits the bill perfectly. In midfield however I'm not so sure about Lampard he's old and slow not to mention expensive I'd rather have a defensively oriented stopper someone in Yaya's mould that could provide depth and cover. Even though Eidur seems to at times to be playing his heart out I believe both him and the club would be better served if he left in the summer and replaced by a central or attacking midfielder such as Xabi or modric

pep said...

To be clear: this is not my analysis, it's from El Mundo Deportivo.

My priorities would be:
(1) a left winger
(2) a scoring midfielder (who can come in the box ànd who has a good long distance shot)

Then you need a back-up for Touré, a right back if Zambrotta leaves, and a central defender (certainly if Marquez leaves).

I have to say it's all less clear than last year and that the incoming transfers will probably also depend on the players who will leave (zambrotta? marquez? deco? ronaldinho?). And a lot will anyhow depend on winning or not the CL or the liga.

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