The cracks give pumpkins

For some time now, two discourses have coexisted in Barcelona regarding future planning. One is the optimist led by President Joan Laporta, who has always opted for hiring a star to lead the next project. The other is much more conservative, not to say realistic.. Until now he was the director of football Mateo Alemany the one who was in charge of cooling down certain dreams of grandeur. For some time now, coach Xavi Hernández, who not long ago was convinced that a star was going to arrive this summer, has publicly lowered his story. The economic situation is imposed and the world cracks are giving Barça pumpkins.

Before playing against Celta, Xavi was very clear when asked about level reinforcements: “We will see what we can do because the economic situation marks us. If you do not have money, you still have to act in another way. It’s obvious, we depend on money. We have made a football diagnosis. Then there is the economic. We are very clear about what we want for next year and we will try to do everything that can be done.”

Before facing Celta, the signing of Haalandwith whom the Catalan coach had met in Germany seemed to be about to close with City and Xavi already assumed that “City has tremendous baggage. If what you are saying happens, it will be because of the financial issue“. On Tuesday, with the deal already closed, he elaborated on the argument: “I wish Haaland the best. We have not been able to compete for him. Impossible to compete economically.”

And it is that the pumpkins of Haaland, to the Barça come to be the advance of what can be a constant in these months. Salah, from Liverpool, presented unaffordable economic aspirations in terms of salary for the Blaugrana club.

Bayern’s Lewandoski doesn’t seem to be within reach either. of Barça for various reasons. On the one hand, he has one year left on his contract with Bayern, who have no intention of parting with their scorer without having secured a guaranteed replacement. And on the other hand, the Pole, who is seduced by the idea of ​​a change of scene, demands a three-year contract. A commitment that, given his age, makes the operation questionable with a view to the future.

Given these operations, which are financially impossible if the “economic levers” that President Laporta has been promising for some time are not urgently activated (signing with CVC or another fund, sale of players, sale of 49% of Barça Studios and the merchandising division) Barça has to do an exercise in realism.

A speech that Xavi and Alemany expose more and more clearly and that is limited to reinforcements that arrive with the letter of freedom. The pumpkins hurt and they are coming to Barça from everywhere.