HOW BARCELONA'S TRANSFER BAN WILL HURT THEM

HOW BARCELONA'S TRANSFER BAN WILL HURT THEM

D. Ray Morton, 2nd April 2014.

Barcelona were slapped with a two window transfer ban by FIFA today due to discrepancies in their signings of non-Spanish players under the age of 18. This follows the controversy of the Neymar deal which is still due for investigation. Barça's "goodie two shoes" mask has slipped off and now the club run the risk of losing their clean-cut, international appeal. What's more, this latest transfer ban prevents the club's planned summer spending splurge where serious investment was needed to strengthen a squad with many weaknesses.

Deals had been negotiated for two players. Dinamo Zagreb's Alen Halilović and Borussia Mönchengladbach's Marc-André ter Stegen were due to join although it's now unknown whether the ban allows them to recruit these young stars. Halilović would only have featured in the under-19s or "B" team initially such as his young age but ter Stegen was expected to replace Victor Valdés as their No. 1 goalkeeper.

Barça will have to beg Valdés to stay on now and perhaps it works in their favour that he recently picked up a serious knee injury that will have him miss out on the World Cup and perhaps make him reconsider finding a new club. His reasons for leaving are not believed to be financial but should the club allow him to recuperate fully and offer him a new and fair contract, there's a very good chance he could now stay.

 Can Bartra step up to the plate?

One player who won't be staying is Carles Puyol and this is where the transfer ban will hurt the Catalans most. They've needed a new centre-back for several seasons now but the ban means they'll have to settle for substandard players already within the club. They had been expected to make a move for Chelsea's David Luiz for this position. They have Marc Bartra who is showing some promise but is still not ready to play at the highest level. Options beyond that are worrying and might mean having to retain Alex Song as a centre half option, something which has been a disaster so far.

In attacking positions, los culés should actually be fine. They have Lionel Messi, Neymar, Alexis Sánchez and Pedro to call upon and provided none leave, those options are more than sufficient. Midfield could be a worry, however. Xavi is pushing on in age and although Cesc Fabregas, Andrés Iniesta and Sergi Busquets offer quality, a few injuries could have Barça forcing to promote Rafinha Alcantara (currently on loan at Celta Vigo) or the likes of Denis Suárez of the "B" team. Two good young players but not as good as spending €30m+ on an Arturo Vidal or a Miralem Pjanić.

The talented Rafinha, Thiago Alcantara's younger brother, is still on Barcelona's books.

Finding a goalkeeper and centre back are the potential nightmare scenarios but otherwise, this may not mean all doom and gloom. Staying out of two transfer windows will obviously allow revenue to build up and it forces Barça to be creative and promote from within, something which they have prided themselves upon in recent years. Chelsea were threatened with the same consequences in 2007 over their deal to sign Gael Kakuta and that was successfully overturned so the Catalan club can draw positives from that. Ultimately, however, the main thing Barcelona need now is a good long run of avoiding controversy off the pitch. Messi's tax evasion allegations, the dodgy Neymar deal and now this within the space of a few months is a heavy burden on a club that had already suffered due to Eric Abidal and Tito Vilanova's struggles against cancer. Controversy has been rearing its ugly head and that's the last thing they need right now. Take your medicine and get on with it.