The three key decisions Bartomeu must make

The three key decisions Bartomeu must make

Lluís Mascaró

Director de Información Deportiva de Prensa Ibérica

Josep Maria Bartomeu
Josep Maria Bartomeu  | sport

Bartomeu has already drawn up a way out of this unprecedented crisis and it comes down to three key decisions. The first, which is naturally the easiest, is to sack the current head coach. Quique Setien will be replaced soon and Pochettino appears the favourite to come in (but don't rule out Koeman, Allegri, Henry or even Garcia Pimienta either). The second decision isn't difficult either. Bartomeu refuses to step down but is ready to bring forward the elections to some time between January and March. This would allow the new president to start his project ahead of time and begin planning for the future. 

The third decision is a little more complicated: revolutionise the whole squad... but he doesn't have the money to do that. There isn't a single euro in the transfer kitty. The coronavirus pandemic has seen the club lose more than €200m. If they are to sign anyone it would require some significant sales to go through first. 

Barça must confront this painful end of an era without a project for the future in place. It's a surreal situation for the current squad. Apart from the players who were already 'for sale' (Neto, Umtiti, Junior, Rakitic, Arturo Vidal, Rafinha, Braithwaite, Coutinho...), the club also wants to sell some of the more influential members of the squad like Jordi Alba, Busquets and Luis Suárez. This as well as trying to recoup most of the money spent on Dembélé and Griezmann.

There are only four untouchables in the squad: Ter Stegen, Lenglet, De Jong and Messi. Everyone else can leave because it's time to turn to the new generation (Ansu, Riqui, Pedri, Trincao) whilst raising the cash to fund moves for Lautaro Martínez and Eric García.  It almost feels like mission impossible. It's an intricate plan that, if it's to succeed, needs a coach who is brave enough to see it through. These are the harsh, harsh consequences after years of neglect and poor management.

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