If Barcelona had learned any lessons from the negative headlines they attracted over the last 12 months, it’s not showing so far.
Having gone through a seemingly endless sequence of trials and tribulations, including allegations of tax fraud on Neymar’s contract, the enforced resignation of former president Sandro Rosell and a currently suspended transfer ban from FIFA, you might have thought the club would be determined to tread carefully as they prepare for the new season.
To the contrary, however, Barca’s pursuit of arguably the most vilified man in world football, Luis Suarez, suggests the club appears to believe there is no need to repair their damaged reputation.
Suarez is, of course, a fabulous footballer whose presence at the Nou Camp would significantly improve Barca’s strike force – the prospect of a South American attacking triumvirate of Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi is nothing short of mouth-watering.
However, it’s equally true that Suarez is a trouble-magnet of unmatched proportions and, despite his claims to the contrary, there is little reason to believe he will behave from now on.
Barcelona are not stupid and they know that signing Suarez would plunge them into a new world of controversy along with providing a bundle of goals.
Quite simply, though, they seem not to care – and that marks a remarkable shift in attitude from a club which until recently proudly protected an image of whiter-than-white moral virtue.
Indeed, it was quite appropriate that confirmation of their intention to sign Suarez came on the same day that the club also revealed their latest sponsorship deal: an agreement with Beko which will see the name of the global home appliance brand embossed upon the sleeves of the team’s playing shirts.
The days of Barcelona eschewing commercial shirt sponsorship deals in favour of reserving the space for Unicef seem a long time ago; nowadays, it seems, anybody with a big enough pile of cash can buy their way into ‘Brand Barca’.
Similarly, 10 years ago, you would like to think, Barca would have run a mile at the prospect of signing such a notorious troublemaker – whether that reputation is deserved or not – as Suarez.
The received wisdom is that their pursuit of the striker stems from new manager Luis Enrique, who sees Suarez as his ideal centre forward and isn’t afraid to give his team an added edge of aggression.
That’s his prerogative, but Enrique is newly returned to the Nou Camp and could easily be put into his place by the board if they wished to do so. Instead, they are bowing to his wishes and prepared to play with fire.
And make no mistake, it will be fiery. Ominously for the Uruguay star, Suarez’s routine defence over the last couple of years has been repeated accusations that his crimes have been exaggerated after finding himself the unfortunate victim of an ugly smear campaign by the British media.
If he thinks there’s a problem in the UK, he should just wait and see what kind of treatment he receives from the Madrid media – now that will be a real conspiracy.
