Exclusive: Valverde tells Barcelona board only to sign starters
The board thinks that with the current squad they cannot win the Champions League
Valverde only wants players who can break into the XI immediately
FC Barcelona have decided to sign players in the winter window to boost the squad and make them strong enough to try and win the Champions League.
The team is doing well in Europe and in La Liga, but the current belief is they need to improve to win more than domestic competitions. Bartomeu has given the OK.
Pep Segura, sporting director, has a double challenge becaue he needs to improve the squad but also lighten it, but getting rid of some of the players weighing it down without adding anything special.
Neither Ernesto Valverde or Pep Segura want to make transfers in the same vein as Robert Fernandez and Luis Enrique. WIth Lucho Barcelona looked to add reserves to give themselves a wardrobe to pick from. "Reserves who don't alter the atmosphere of the dressing room and leaving the main players to do their thing", was the order fo the day. "Luis Enrique didn't want a squabble in the dressing room and was confident in the starters," a board source told SPORT.
That's why Digne, Gomes, Alcacer and Cillessen were brought in, players that haven't forced their way into the team. Only Umtiti overcame that barrier.
Now the position of the coach is different. Maybe because of the age of the squad, maybe because he's not afraid of shaking things up, Valverde has given the order to sign players who can start, compete with Iniesta, Rakitic or whoether else, adding talent and improving the creativity up front.
