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Barca Has Their First Signing. by EMXTAN1(m): 9:19pm On Jul 01, 2016 |
TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY, AKA “BENVINGUT, UMTITI!”
Samuel Umtiti is coming to Barça from Lyon, a 25m
transfer (straight up, no incentives) on a 5-year deal.
Prima facie , so what, right? Those jackasses finally signed a
young CB. Barça Twitter brought rumblings of overpaying,
etc, etc. but let’s look at what really happened here, shall
we?
In a market where CBs are the gold standard, Barça got just
about the hottest young CB prospect in world football for a
comparative pittance, especially as he had three years left
on his contract. All the names being bandied about such as
Marquinhos, would have cost at least 40m. Aymeric
Laporte? 40-plus. Stones? Bidding starts at 50. Barça pulled
off a brilliant move in snagging Umtiti, a player that a lot of
culers are kinda in the dark about because they aren’t
obsessive football freaks like some.
The deal on Umtiti is, in a few words, Mascherano on
steroids, with hops. He has gobs of pace with excellent
closing speed, and wins aerial duels with a regularity that
makes him like a utility. His closing speed means that he
can sort problems without being rash or sliding in, so he
wins a lot of tackles by being in the right position. He can
also play left back, not like a slumming CB but like a proper
left back. Oh, and he scores goals .
There are so many good things about this transfer, starting
with the price, which isn’t enough to build the crazy
expectations than can saddle many a transfer. At 25m,
Umtiti would be classified as a mid-priced transfer for a
giant club such as Barça. There will be pressure, but not of
the craziness that would have come with the price tag for a
player such as Marquinhos. He will also have time to
develop, which makes it easy to see why Luis Enrique
insisted on Mascherano staying. Because for all of the guff
that Mascherano takes, he understands how to be a Barça
CB better than any CB on the club, including Pique. He will
impart that knowledge to Umtiti, in training and matches.
The club also gains a young CB. La Masia is a cradle of
wee, gifted midfielders, but is kinda crap at producing the
front and back ends of things. Up front, Barça is set. In
back, there is Pique, Mascherano, and everybody else.
Mathieu is a old man without a meniscus. He will be useful
this season, but look for Umtiti to pass him in the depth
chart pretty quickly. Vermaelen is serviceable. The end, now
that Bartra is off to Dortmund. More importantly, Umtiti, at
age 22, is for the future. The club is old at key spots. A
quality CB, and a young one, was essential for Barça. It’s
unfortunate that the club isn’t also going after another
young’un despite the Mauricio Lemos rumors, but look for
that position to be further reinforced in coming windows.
Umtiti also has DM-like ball skills, and is very comfortable
moving forward in attack. It’s difficult to find a “Barça CB”
in a world where more traditional CBs are revered. As good
as a player such as Thiago Silva is, there is something to be
said for a smaller, fast, mobile CB who gets up and back on
the pitch with alacrity. That is Umtiti . The other cool thing
about the transfer is that it’s nice to see some brotha back
in the club. I remember the days of Thuram, Abidal, Henry
and Eto’o. From this seat, a global club should look like the
globe — Spaniards, South Americans, French, white, black,
shades in between. Plus it gives the more backward-
thinking Catalans something to huff about.
Now, here’s the caveat: He’s a young player, so be patient.
He will make errors. Old players also make errors, but there
is more patience for those than with young players,
especially young players that cost anything more than a
warm beverage at a coffee shop. Never forget how cruel the
fanbase was to Txigrinski. It takes a very strong player not
to be bothered by that kinda crap. It won’t stop people from
doing it, even as it should.
The Umtiti move also solidifies what is shaping up to be an
excellent summer for Barça, and one that is, of necessity,
youth-focused. Neymar renewed, for a 5-year deal. He’s 24.
Umtiti is 22. Denis Suarez, who will return to the club this
summer from loan, is 22. Even if those three moves are all
that the club does, it will have been an excellent summer.
But rest assured that more is coming, since the club
maintains that Umtiti was signed from transfer kitty goodies
left over from last season. This means the club has 68m
(60+Bartra proceeds) to spend this summer. Let’s see what
happens.
In the meantime, welcome a new CB to the fold, and watch
the France/Iceland match at Euros, where buzz is that he
will be starting for Les Bleus.
P.S. The last player that Barça signed from Lyon didn’t
exactly suck, did he? |
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