Eto'o, Henry, and the last man standing.

Thinking about Barcelona front line, I opened my word document aiming to write about our transfer alternatives for next season. But it wasn’t as easy as I thought. My normal approach to figure out what we have before checking whom to get, complicated the topic for me. So I thought its better to start with analyzing two crucial cases we need to deal with, before we talk the buying language. The cases of Henry and Eto’o.

I base my topic on an assumption that we will only sign one player for our front line this summer. Which, in my opinion, the most realistic scenario we can think of at the moment.

Henry will leave this summer, not as certain as it looks:

One of the major reasons why Barcelona fans expect – or even wish- that Henry leaves this summer, is the idea of getting Ribery. It’s the desperate need for a pure wing. But I think the reasonable logic weavers all the links created by time between Henry departure and Ribery arrival. In fact, the realistic approach oppose the common belief.

If we sell Henry, then it’s impossible that we will sign Ribery. In another more significant words: If Barcelona wants Ribery, they need Henry to stay. Or else, our front line will be as follows:

Ribery, Iniesta (both can play on flank and midfield), Bojan, Eto’o, Messi, Pedro (I guess) plus one or two Barca Athletic players who play on the flanks. Anything weird? Yes! Who will play as a striker? Eto’o and Bojan.

I strongly believe Bojan can work better on the flank, rather than in the box. Yet, even if we considered him as a striker, is it smart to count on him as the only cover for Eto’o? What if Eto’o got injured for…hm…two months? Is it healthy for a big club like Barcelona to have only one 19 years old -talented- boy to lead their front line for two months against the teams of la Liga and the Champions’ league?

More over, let’s forget about the “if clauses” and deal only with facts: Eto’o will be out of service for six weeks next season serving his international commitments in Africa.

Messi can play as a striker as well, but there is a big difference between playing him deep because you want to, and playing him there because you have to. That’s an extra pressure on the player, on the technical staff, and on the squad in general. Does the case really worth taking that risk?

If Barcelona sells Henry, then the club will sign a player of Henry category. A striker who can play on the flank.

In Brief, regardless of each fan evaluation for each of the two players, the logic need to switch from “Who is better to have next season? Ribery or Henry?” to become “Is it for the best of the team to keep Henry and sign Ribery? Or it’s better to sell Henry and get another player who can play as a striker and as a wing at the same time?”

The club wants to renew Eto’o contract, not as certain as it looks:

Eto’o is one of the best forwards in the game currently. But what’s more important is that he fits Barcelona in so many ways that makes it dangerous to pull this piece out of the squad puzzle. He is a record scorer. He is a horse running on the opponents’ defense while we are on the quest to win back the ball. He is adapted to the complicated Barcelona dance on the pitch. One of the hardest football styles to adapt to. Then why not renewing his contract?

If we want to renew his contract because we – all- love him, then skip the following paragraphs about Eto’o contract renewal. It’s not interesting to read. If we want to guess how the board is considering the case, and what kind of discussions they had in their board meetings, then this is what I predict:

The club seems not to be so sure about the decision to be taken. I got the impression that the board of directors sees lot of gains in renewing and less concerns through offloading. May be some of the following factors are rooming on the boards table while painting the best strategy to tackle this issue:

1) Eto’o is insisting to postpone the talks till the end of the season:

That’s a very tricky situation. If the club wants to work on other options, they need to start cooking the transfer meal on April, or at most on the sunrise of May. Waiting till the last minute is suicidal. Eto’o is now 28 years old, and based on Fifa's Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, Article 17, he can buy out his contract at the end of this season. He only need to inform the club 15 days before sending the cheque . If the club accepted this situation, it will be a mistake. With all my support and appreciation for Eto’o. There are rules, fundamentals and responsibilities that govern managing an organization. One of the key principles is that the Russian roulette game is forbidden in decision making management.

Barcelona had never been the symbol of excellence in that department. I believe the right approach is to offer him a contract renewal and give him till the end of April to make his final decision.

There is no threat this will unstable the player. If he wants to stay it will be great to renew at the beginning of May, before the crucial period of the season. So we enter that period with no concerns. If he doesn’t want to renew, then he will have the motive to show his worth before contract negotiations with his new destination. Beside, he will not waste the chance of winning any title with Barcelona this year just because he will be moving this summer. Beside the golden ball and other individual awards that he can hunt. All to add to his career profile.

Is it an unpopular scenario? Well that’s what successful management is all about, taking the hard decisions. One of the sins of the board in the previous two years was not taking the right decisions on time. Laporta admitted that, but we need to wait and see the improvement.

2) Long term concerns: Footballer life cycle:

There are four kinds of forwards: a) Skillful -Del piero type. b) Skyscrapers -Adebayor. c) Sharp finishers – Inzaghi . d) Dynamic- Eto’o. Forwards either belong to one of the categories or a mix of many.

The last type usually characterized by the shortest life cycle. Because they count on their fitness level and runs to generate their Scoring opportunities. They waste lot of them, but they generate enough to score. With that in mind, the question is: Can we predict the same Eto’o we have at the moment, two years from now? This is a question the board is definitely analyzing. May be it will not decide their decision if they renew his contract or not, but it will be a vital element while planning the contract to offer. They will –and they have to- put lot of “Based on performance” Clauses. It will be a wrong approach to put a clause like “Minimum number of goals he scores”, that will turn him to a selfish beast. The number of goals the team scores per season with a minimum number of games eto'o needs to participate in, may be a good way to go. That will also require lot of supportive clauses to defend his rights, and to take in consideration some other details as well (injuries for instance), its complicated. How far can Eto’o agree on that. If not, will that be a sign to make the board think twice?

If he was a striker from the other three categories, there will be no case of concern, good finishing survive, Height in the box will always be there (and gets more influential with time), Skills with experience can offer sometimes better than young skills without experience. But when it comes to the running and wrestling part, that’s a different story.

3) Financial demands: Can we match Eto’o financial demands? Can he pump enough financial returns to the budget that match his demands? There was a saying that Ronaldinho was financing his own salary, what about Eto’o? I am not saying he will not, I don’t know. And that’s something the board will also consider when they put the higher bound they can accept regarding the expenses of renewal. Then, how long will it take Eto'o to request reconsidering his contract conditions?

4) Pumping new blood Upfront:

We certainly need a new key player upfront besides promoting youth players, if the player we sign will be a pure striker, will Eto’o accept timesharing? If we signed a Wing, then Henry will need to play more often as a striker. Again, how will Eto’o react to that? Certainly a group of members in the board believes that the best solution is to sign a new player, Sell Eto'o and keep henry. Henry, the player who can serve on the left wing if needed, and can also play as a striker till the new signing adapt to one of the mentioned positions.

But again, if we sell Eto'o it means we will buy a player who can operate both in the box and on the flank.

By intention, I focused more on the reasons that may lead to keep Henry and offload Eto’o. Not because I recommend that, as the following part will clarify. But because that’s the other invisible side of the story, hidden under the dust of continuous confirmations:

Henry: time to say good bye. And Eto’o: You are here to stay.

Will we keep the two guns next season? Are we going to offload one of them? Who? That will give a clear idea about the way we will approach the market next summer.

Ramzi Tanani

Bojan could ask to leave on loan

Madrid sports tabloid As claims that Barcelona forward and Spanish youth international Bojan Krkic (18) will ask to leave the club on loan if Barcelona signs another striker in the summer.

Against his father's advice but with his mother's support, the Catalan striker was until this moment opposed to a loan exit. Bojan would now nevertheless see a temporary move away from Barcelona as a valid option.


Read more:
Tottenham wants Bojan on loan next season
Bojan didn't hear anything about loan exit
Arsenal interested in Bojan

Number of the day: 84

84

the percentage of playing time in which Barcelona had ball possession during the first fifteen minutes of Sunday's game against Almería

more quotes and numbers

How much will Barcelona get for the U2 concert?

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona will receive one million euro for the use of the Camp Nou stadium by Irish rockband U2 later this year for the opening of their new world tour (read more here).

If U2 would later decide to add a second Barcelona concert to their new tour, that would mean another million euro for the club. Barcelona will also receive an extra fee of supposedly around 300 000 euro for the replacement of the pitch after the concert.

Poll: Who do you want to avoid in the CL?