Aside from a very unexpected loss to Roma in the Champions League, Barcelona have enjoyed a magnificent campaign.
Into the Copa del Rey final for the fifth successive season and setting a new all-time unbeaten record in La Liga of 39 consecutive games is something to be proud of.
Just seven points separate the Catalans from their seventh league title in 10 seasons, and with an entire 38-game campaign largely being the barometer by which teams are judged, this particular era for the Blaugrana will go down in the history books.
There’s certainly a lot to admire the club for on the field, but their transfer business has left a lot to be desired.
With captain Andres Iniesta likely to depart at the end of the season, and Sergio Busquets getting no younger, suitable replacements have to be found, but the sporting director and his staff have been found wanting for some time.
Robert Fernandez was almost removed from his position this time a year ago, but was given a stay of execution to turn things around. Unfortunately, things have got worse rather than better.
Ousmane Dembele has had injury problems it’s true, but the young Frenchman has looked far from the wunderkind we were led to believe he was.
He’s played nowhere close to the level he was at when playing for Dortmund, and given his inflated purchase price of £103.5 million (Dh540 million), there’s a general consensus among the hard-to-please supporter base that he’s actually been a waste of money.
The fans could’ve turn a blind eye to the fact that only Sergi Roberto has progressed through La Masia to the first team in the last few years if money was being invested wisely but it isn’t, and those that pay their hard-earned euros every fortnight to go to the Camp Nou know it.
It’s not just Dembele’s purchase that has seen a few furrowed brows and scratching of heads either.
Barcelona paid a €5m premium on top of an agreed transfer fee just to have Yerry Mina join them in January rather than this summer, but the only full games he has played came in the Catalan Super Cup final — when he lined up alongside the majority of the Barca B squad — and a 0-0 draw against Getafe.
Aside from that, he played the last seven minutes of the Copa del Rey fixture against Valencia, and since February, he’s not spent a single minute on the pitch. Not only that, he hasn’t made the squad on numerous occasions.
Gerard Deulofeu, re-signed last summer, was quickly sent packing to Watford, and Paco Alcacer, Lucas Digne, Denis Suarez and Andre Gomes only play if Ernesto Valverde doesn’t have any other option.
Even Nelson Semedo, who Barca again paid a pretty penny for, hasn’t been able to bed down the right-back slot.
Paulino has done marginally better but has faded badly over the second half of the season, leaving Samuel Umtiti, and potentially Philippe Coutinho as the only real success stories from purchases over the last couple of seasons.
That’s nowhere near good enough for a club of Barcelona’s quality and will have to be rectified this summer if Barca want to be challenging on all fronts again next season.
