Barcelona were forced to face reconstruction following many disappointing seasons with awful Champions League results. The embarrassing 8-2 defeat against Bayern Munich in 2020 proved that things needed to change once and for all. Whetherif they made the right decision by taking it on Luis SuĂĄrez, Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitic, among others, or not, one thing was for sure: the Cules couldnât continue pretendingas nothing happened.
Club legend Ronald Koeman couldnât turn things around quickly, though, but as the current season developed his team gave reasons for optimism. It istrue, though, thatBarca were once again knocked out of the UCL in an early stage and being humiliated at home. Still,they strengthened in La Liga with a longundefeated rununtil the loss against Real Madrid showed they are far from perfect. Then again, Koemanâs boys lifted the Copa del Rey and gave a signal of hope. Barcaâs president Joan Laporta trusts in the Dutch and bothof them insiston fortifying Barcelona in the long term.
Thereâs a lot of work to do for Koeman to take Barcelona back to the top. Retaining superstarLionel Messi is the main task, as the Argentine contract expires in summer and he hasnât made a decision yet. At the same time, Sergio Aguero could be arriving atthe Camp Nou,possibly joining hiscompatriot. However, the Catalans intend to secure at least two more well-known names to upgrade other positions as well.
The two players to boost Messi and Aguero in Barcelona
The priority of renewing Messiâs deal seems to be going in the right direction, while âEl KunâAguero would be close to reaching an agreement. With the twoof them in, the Blaugranas could concentrate onadding more power to their squad.
Once again, the free agency would be providing the solution for that job. Eric GarcĂa and Georginio Wijnaldum are reportedly in Barcelonaâs plans for the next campaign. The center back, who turned down Manchester Cityâs offers to renew his contract,is a great option to upgrade the defense, whose weaknesses have given Barca many unpleasant moments.
GarcĂa belonged to Barcelonaâs Academy before moving to Manchester (Getty).
On the other hand, the Cules seem to be a bit strongerin the midfield than at the back. But Wijnaldum not only has been a huge desire of Koeman since he took over the first team but hecould alsogive balance to the center of the pitch. Moreover, landing a player of his caliber without paying a transfer fee at all is a real bargain.
Koeman coached Wijnaldum in the Netherlands national team (Getty).
The Catalans are eager to get back to the good old dayswhen they were used to glory and not to be struggling in the most important competitions. While the club is trying to recover after boardroom conflicts from the last year, the team is also giving signals of growthwith bright youngsters and the possible arrivals of new players who could help Messi, if he stays, and Aguero, if he arrives as well.
