I'm propably not the only one who noticed that in this summer transfert, there been some kind of silent war between Chelsea and Barca.

For example, Chelsea would have been extremely closed of concluding deal with Sevilla over Kounde and Leeds for Raphinha but Barca managed to get both player thanks to private negotiation between the players and Barcelona.

On the other hand Koulibaly was also linked with Barca at one point but apparently, Napoli president didn't trust them financially and only accepted to deal with Chelsea.

Been quite the interesting stuff to follow over the summer at very least. What do you guys think? Is Barca dirty for stealing player at the last instant or are they smart for managing to revamping their squad despite the complicated situation they are having? Is Chelsea gonna be able to find replacement for all the player they've been losing?

Deals are all done in various ways but stealing from a club, in my experience is pretty rare these days. Unless a buyout has been kicked off, two parties of the three involved have to be in agreeance. Sure the club could feel like they were left out, but isn't that on the player to communicate?

I mean, the club should understand where the player stands during all phases of their contract and it does not take a crystal ball to see when most players are not happy with their situation.

I think what puts most people off that I know about, Barca and their seeming spending spree is "How can they, with their current issues financially?". Sure TV rights are getting sold and I am sure there are a ton of other side deals we are not all aware of, but it does put people off.

Barca was always dirty with getting players. However in this case it was reported pretty early that Raphina wants to go there and if it wasn't possible due to financial reasons he would go to Chelsea.

About the Barca finances, it's a joke.

@quikzyyy How is it a joke though? I mean, sure, they are walking a dangerous path by forsaking future profit to bring immediate money but the message they're sending right now is invaluable. Its a message that Barca isn't dead yet.

@DarthFooty I think its very clear that player preference play a big role in transfer between clubs. Even if more money is put on the table by a big club for the transfer fee, if the player in question isn't interested by their project, chance are most team will accept lower bid that the player will be willing to accept.

The lesson here is that Barca brand is still extremely popular. Lewandoski believe he has a better shot at winning Ballon d'Or at Barca. Raphina want to go there to be like his idol Ronaldinho. Kounde want to go there... because of Jeremy Mathieu I guess. XD

I mean, if I had to choose between Chelsea or Barcelona, I'd choose Barcelona as well(all rivalry aside).

Living in Barcelona is just amazing, sure, London is amazing too, but these players all grew up on watching Barcelona success, can't blame them, Raphina set his mind on Barcelona way before Chelsea was even interested, Kounde probably as well, if I remember well they already had personal terms agrees like half a year ago..

Their finances are joke, they say they don't have money to pay wages they owe to De Jong, they want to take legal actions against him to reduce his wages, yet they already spend 150m. Imagine going to work and your boss tells you we don't have money to pay you! But look at this new company Ferrari, GTR, Mercedes and Audi we bought with money we owe you.

Their finances are joke, they say they don't have money to pay wages they owe to De Jong, they want to take legal actions against him to reduce his wages, yet they already spend 150m.

Well, thats a really a good point, I think its really a case of them wanting to decrease their overage wage structure to register the new arrival as soon as possible without stoping new players from coming in. I agree its very dirty though.

I also think Barca need to understand grass isn't alway greener somewhere else, there been talk of trying to sell De Jong to United to get Bernardo Silva but personally, I'm not convinced that be the best move on the long term. Even if they managed to not having to pay him his wage because of it. Just pay the lad and find another way to reduge the overall wage mate.

Wouldn't even be surprised if De Jong didn't want to leave until they pay him what they owe him + moving to Manchester weather from Barcelona weather...

@quikzyyy Yeah, I mean, at this point, Barca is better on so many level compared to United, weather, exposure, positive momentum. And in his case, if he stay, Barca should have to pay him so it would be better financially as well. Player preference goes a long way in situation like that so I really doubt he would leave unless something big make him change his mind.

This reminds me of how Chelsea back in the days ”stole” Willian when he was about to be done deal for Spurs.