Ever since Barcelona was engulfed in financial fire as a result of Josep Maria Bartomeu’s disastrous reign, his successor Joan Laporta has been managing as best he knows how. He is trying to compensate for large debts in various ways, and all this affects the transfer policy.In the previous three years, Barcelona brought in 23 reinforcements, not counting the youngsters from the youth team. Of those 23 signings, five were loans, of which (so far) none were bought out. Of the remaining 18 newcomers, as many as 10 came without compensation. This summer, Barcelona spent only 3,400,000 euros on reinforcements (Oriol Romeu), which speaks volumes about the club’s financial dubiousness – mostly chasing free prospects.##NAJAVA_MECA_8094772##The first summer signing will follow the trend. Barcelona signed a preliminary contract with Argentine midfielder Guido Rodriguez, whose contract at Betis expires at the end of the season. He comes for free and will be a replacement for the aforementioned Romeu.This summer, coach Xavi begged the club executives to bring him a holding midfielder after Busquets’ departure, but all his wishes like Kimmich, Zubimendi or Brozović were financially unavailable for the club. They eventually got Romeu from Girona and was not happy as the experienced midfielder did not live up to expectations. He hasn’t been getting a chance lately, and De Jong, Gundogan, and even Christensen have often played in that position… It is increasingly speculated that Girona will bring Romeu back.Guido Rodríguez is a similar type of player and the Catalans will be hoping for better luck than in the case of Romeu. He is experienced (30 years old), he is a classic ‘no.6’ who patrols in front of the defense and covers tons of kilometers. He grew up in River Plate, played in Mexico for four years and came to Betis in 2020. He has been a member of the Argentinian national team for a long time, with whom he won the World Cup in Qatar and the Copa America..@javigiorgetti: “Personally, the signing of Guido Rodríguez excites me. He is good defensively, he arrives as a free agent, low salary, he wouldn’t mind being a starter… Still, Barça should not lose the priority of signing a top pivot.” pic.twitter.com/uzsuenVYvg— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) May 9, 2024 According to his football profile, he is what Barca need, although he is not the class of player that Xavi was looking for. He still hopes for Kimmich or Zubimendi but that will only be possible if De Jong is sold for big money. According to Barca’s financial capabilities, Rodriguez is currently the best fit – he’s free.
