Barcelona have been busy in the summer transfer market, and it looks as though they’ll be digging into their pockets again in the coming weeks.
The transfer window may well have slammed shut on Wednesday night, but the Catalan giants are lining up new contracts for Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic.
Having already spent €122m on six new signings, as confirmed by director of professional sports Albert Soler in a press conference on Thursday, it doesn’t look as though they’re quite done investing in their squad just yet.
“If we’d spent €100m on a player, we could only have signed one. And with €122m we’ve signed six. We have changed the philosophy a little: we’ve gone for younger players,” Soler told the media.
“The duties we have now are renewing [the contracts of] Rakitic, Suarez and, afterwards, Messi. The club does not stop. There are homegrown players, like [Andres] Iniesta or Messi, that will be be at Barca as long as they want to be.”
Neymar, Javier Mascherano and Sergio Busquets have already inked new deals this summer, and coupled with the signings of Jasper Cillessen, Lucas Digne, Samuel Umtiti, Denis Suarez, Andre Gomes and Paco Alcacer, it’s undoubtedly been a successful summer for the La Liga champions.
Having won a domestic double last season, it’s clear that they intend on continuing their domestic dominance this year while the Champions League will naturally be an objective too.
However, it’s impressive management from the club as well as they look to ensure that they have key pieces in place both for the short-term and long-term future.