The year 2016 started with much enthusiasm about Barcelona finally being able to make their moves in the transfer market. However, the end of the January transfer window is upon us and there have not been any major changes in the club’s senior squad.
No transfers beyond Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal means Barça will have to make do with roughly the same set of players that has been from the start of the season. Fortunately, Munir El Haddadi is slowly but surely becoming a silver lining for the club on the pitch.
While Barça are toiling hard to get their deals done for Denis Suarez and Nolito, the re-emergence of Munir as Luis Enrique’s favoured 12th man has seen some of the club’s concerns alleviate. The January transfer window slams shut on Friday the 29th, which means Barça barely have four days to complete the deals for their prime targets.
Robert Fernandez, Barça’s sporting director, has hit a stumbling block in negotiations with Villarreal over Denis Suarez, as the Yellow Submarine will not sell before they secure a replacement and the already complex situation has been complicated by Real Madrid’s reluctance to send Denis Cheryshev to El Madrigal. There are financial complexities in the Nolito transfer, although optimistic reports indicate that both the player and his club are ready to sanction a move.
Which brings into question the status of Munir. The Moroccan-origin forward has juggled with Sandro Ramirez for game time but ever since that 2–2 draw with Deportivo La Coruna before Christmas where Sandro started and played an unproductive 68 minutes before being taken off, Munir has had ten times more game time than his team-mate. Munir has started four games since the Depor game, scoring four times in his 319 minutes on the pitch.
In comparison, Sandro has played only 30 minutes since his woeful shift against Depor, and that has put some context to Munir’s place in the team. With various factors contributing to the frequent absences of Leo Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez at different points, Luis Enrique has needed his fringe players to step up and Munir has done exactly that. Whether or not Barça manage to pull off their moves for Nolito and Denis Suarez, Munir’s upturn in form is cause for optimism.
As with Pedro before he left, Barça have always sought reliable back-ups for their MSN trident. Hence Enrique’s desire to bring both Denis Suarez and Nolito to the Camp Nou. Both are top quality players and are arguably the best players at Villarreal and Celta Vigo respectively, and would be solid understudies to the trident for the business end of the season. However, should they fail to land both their targets or at least one, Munir’s coming of age should be a reason for quiet optimism and a blow softener.
Barça’s dilemma in attack stems from their possession of arguably the best ever strike force in world football. Replacing the MSN trident is unfathomable and any forward that is bought comes in in a rotational capacity in case of any event of injury or suspension. That creates another set of difficulty in negotiations as a player with ambition is never satisfied with a fringe role at his new club while Barça also scoff at the prospect of paying top money for who is at best an extra attacker or the 12th man.
In that scenario, the emergence of Munir from the shadows has been a bright spot in a rather difficult transfer period for Barça. The 20-year-old has the potential to play and deliver at the highest level, but only if he manages to make the most of his limited opportunities. The La Masia graduate is a cheaper, more viable option for Barça to have than paying over the top to recruit an extra set of 12th men.
The recent links of Fernando Torres to Barça clearly show how the club are in the hunt for players a rung or two below the level of the trident. With the best forwards in world football already at Barça’s disposal, there isn’t much room for improvement.
With the clock ticking down in the current transfer window, a failure to prise either of Nolito and Denis Suarez to the Camp Nou shouldn’t be a big concern, judging by Munir’s latest bloom.
