Iniesta replacement.

He is creative but I don't think he is what Barca needs, Iniesta's main role in our team is to link up our midfield with attack, more like what lallana does.

Lucifer wrote:+1 for GLS. How about Mata though?

May be. But if I were Barca, wouldnt take the risk. Mata's playing well recently in the hole role and in some games even as a 8 when we played 4-3-3 but he has always been more of an SS than a pure creator. But then again, in your team with all those quality around, may be he can adapt in a deeper role. His strength and holding the ball ability has really improved of late.

Wheres Isco these days BTW???

I don't know about being a Iniesta replacement, but Coutinho definitely has Barca DNA, as he's South American and a bit of a flair player, very skilled with the ball. Offensive minded. I don't think any Liverpool fan will be surprised if he one day moves to Barcelona. I don't think we'll be willing to sell in 2017, though. The earliest I can see him leaving is summer 2018. (his contract runs until 2020).

Myesyats wrote:Wheres Isco these days BTW???

Either playing in some odd position in Madrid or on the bench.

Personally, he would have been ideal for Barcelona and while not a like for like replacement for Iniesta (no one in the known footballing world is at the moment), I think he'll suit the needs of Barcelona more than, let's say Coutinho.

Though it would incredible to see (the backlash of) Barcelona bid for a Madrid player in his prime and Madrid accepting the said bid particularly a Spaniard.

I'd love Isco. He's quality. I doubt that we would pursue a RM player though, unfortunately.

There's not much quality in that regard on the market I feel like. Mata would also be a great option though.

Always wanted to see David Silva at Barca but obviously he's too old now.

Gonna be interesting what moves the board is gonna do in that matter. New shirt deal means we are done with second tier scrubs hopefully...

Myesyats wrote:

Always wanted to see David Silva at Barca but obviously he's too old now.

Same here.

I've had this idea in my mind that a Barca with Özil would be unbeatable. Imagine the feed to the best trio in the world

Well just to be realistic

Silva is too old.
Isco, if he ever left Madrid he would probably get a clause in his new contract with his new club stating he could never be transferred to Barca.
Coutinho is is pretty awesome, but more of an attacking mid vs what Iniesta does, which is a more of a central mid that plays near the forwards. Difference being that Iniesta's first responsibility is to link up the midfield to the forwards while Coutinho will look to continue attacking himself if given the chance.
Ozil likely has the same type of thing in his contract as Di Maria and other past Madrid players. Wouldn't and can't ever play for Barca. Though I am a fan.
De Bryne would cost us an arm and a leg, given how much he cost City.

So that means either Denis Suarez has to step the fwk up or we have to find other alternatives that aren't the guys I just named.

How is some people talkinga bout Mata? Ffs, he isn't good enough.

And Ozil is definitely not complete enough to play as a CM for us.

Christian Eriksen.

Mario Götze

Hapless_Hans wrote:Mario Götze

I was leading that bandwagon for while but it seems the guy is not what I/we expected.

Valkyrja wrote:Christian Eriksen.

This is a good call. Maybe not as good as the other names, but a better fit in terms of Iniesta style.

we dont need to replace iniesta. just put messi in his role or the rakitic role and hold the leftback up a little bit more for a better defensive converage. we should be good with messi on the midifield around rakitic/turan with a CF and neymar in front of him. alba can cover his grounds behind him.

Collblanc wrote:we dont need to replace iniesta. just put messi in his role or the rakitic role and hold the leftback up a little bit more for a better defensive converage. we should be good with messi on the midifield around rakitic/turan with a CF and neymar in front of him. alba can cover his grounds behind him.

Then we should replace Messi at the right wing. Who'd play there? It should be a very good extremely hard working Right winger, to compensate Messi's lazyness in midfield.

Forget about Turan, he'll be off much before Iniesta is trully past it for us.

Maxime Lopez

Charles Aranguiz

Let's be honest, it's 90% going to be a Spanish player if LE is still in charge. Probably Koke or someone lmao.

You mean a player from La Liga, not a Spanish player right?

Interesting someone mentioned putting Messi in that role. Messi definitely has the vision and passing to play in the midfield but idk about having him stand around in the center of the pitch all day waiting to get the ball. Messi as a CAM only works if we get 2 hard working mids to play behind him and that pretty much starts shifting the alignment of everything. I would add that if that did happen, I would look at that right wing guy from Sassuolo to be our new RW. Dude is pretty impressive.

If we wait a while we could wait to see how Alena forms up as he matures more as a player. In that mean time we could continue to try out D. Suarez and Gomes in that role next to Rakitic and Rafinha.

I'm convinced Rafinha could be the man. He has improved a lot. 7 goals this season in 8 games?

https://www.fcbarcelona.es/futbol/primer-equipo/noticias/2016-2017/el-maravilloso-gol-de-rafinha-en-doha

And this guy is being benched by Andre Gomes...
I like Rakitic, but I think we could replace him with a better footballer mid-term. Wouldn't mind Pogba, Coutinho, James, Isco or Verratti in his stead.

You need to stop drooling over Pogba. None of those names you mentioned are good enough. James and Isco, the guys who spend on Madrid's bench? Coutinho, is a very good CAM hence in the 4-3-3 Barcelona set up he will not find his sweet spot. Verratti is the only name on that list that gives me a good feeling.

This might not be popular but I think Hamsik would be a great Iniesta replacement.

I would be the happiest man if we landed Hamsik but it's not happening. We will end up with some La Liga scrub like Parejo or worse.

Hamsik is decent but sooooo inconsistent. I think we could do better.

Banega for LCM, Verratti for RCM imo.