The predictable news that Barcelona’s appeal against their transfer ban from FIFA has failed will have significant ramifications
In playing terms, the biggest concern is at right-back. Long serving Dani Alves remains a high-class player but his current contract expires at the end of the season and sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta has already stated that he will not be offered a new deal.
However, the squad’s other right-backs, Martin Montoya and Douglas, do not look up to the required standard.
Home-grown Montoya has been on the fringes of the team for the last few years but a lack of quality on the ball has prevented him from mounting a serious challenge to Alves, while Douglas – a surprising summer signing from Sao Paulo – has been notably poor in his three appearances for the club.
Furthermore, although the club’s reserve team contains a number of excellent prospects, none of them are in Alves’ position, and Barca will have to either rethink their position on a new deal for Alves or consider shifting central defender Marc Bartra to a new role.
The rest of the squad should be able to cope with a year without signings, especially considering the likely progression of youngsters such as midfielders Sergi Samper and Alen Halilovic, although the centre-forward position will become an issue if Luis Suarez suffers injury or another lengthy suspension.
But there could well be consequences at administrative level, with Zubizarreta’s position particularly precarious.
The former Barca goalkeeper has already been criticised by supporters for a string of unsuccessful transfers – especially former Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen, who has not been able to play at all after arriving with a serious injury – and the depth of feeling against him was painfully evident when he was loudly jeered at the Nou Camp during a video tribute to Lionel Messi after the Argentine star broke the all-time Spanish scoring record last month.
The setback of CAS’s appeal rejection could prove to be the final straw, with similarly unpopular president Josep Maria Bartomeu quite probably feeling that he has to sacrifice Zubizarreta – maybe even before the resumption of La Liga this weekend – in order to appease angry fans.
And importantly for Bartomeu’s prospects as president, the ban also acts as another blow to the club’s previously saintly image, which has been heavily damaged by a string of scandals and allegations of misconduct over the past two years.
