Jules Mur

Since the start of the 09/10 season, a total of 16 players have been purchased by Futbol Club Barcelona to cover the eventual retirements of Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, and now Busquets and Pique for an estimated total of € 480.95 million euros, per transfermarkt.com—this excludes performance fees.

Since the 09/10 season, six center-backs have been purchased, and only one is a first teamer—outside of Pique of course—in Samuel Umtiti. The estimated cost: 136.70 million euros to date.

The list of players, per transfermarkt.com, includes current and former players in search of Puyol’s replacement and now Pique’s. Lenglet has shown great composure and a string of great performances recently in the absence of Umtiti propelling Lenglet to first team action.

Player Name	Position	Joined	Fee in Mill. €
Dmytro Chygrynskiy	CB	09/10	€             25.00
Thomas Vermaelen	CB/LB	14/15	€             19.00
Jérémy Mathieu	CB/LB	14/15	€             20.00
Samuel Umtiti	CB	16/17	€             25.00
Yerry Mina	CB	17/18	€             11.80
Clément Lenglet	CB	18/19	€             35.90

While Lenglet has recently shown great composure and a string of great performances in the absence of Umtiti, the jury is out on whether he’ll have long-term success at Barça, and as a left-footed center-back not the ideal replacement for the right-footed Pique.

On the Central-Midfielder debate front, finding the replacements for Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets has proven to be the costliest for Barça. Whether, Barça looked for bench players, short-term replacements, or what appeared to be the future, the midfield pursuit has been riddled by failures with a few bright spots. Mascherano, Rakitic, and, most recently, Coutinho and Arthur have all won big with the club or shown to be the future—Coutinho’s most recent form leaves more question marks than statements compared to Arthur’s, Xavi’s heir apparent, recent string of performances in the UCL.  

A total of 10 midfielders have been brought to cover the eventual retirements of Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, and only Rakitic has been a first-team mainstay since he joined Barça in the 14/15 season. At 30, 31 in March, a replacement for Rakitic is a must for the club to aspire for domestic and continental silverware. The estimated cost per transfermarkt.com: 344.25 million euros to date.

Player Name	Position	Joined	Fee in Mill. €
Javier Mascherano	CDM	10/11	€             20.00
Cesc Fàbregas	CM	11/12	€             34.00
Alex Song	CM/CDM	12/13	€             19.00
Ivan Rakitic	CM	14/15	€             18.00
Arda Turan	LW/CAM	15/16	€             34.00
Denis Suárez	CM	16/17	€               3.25
André Gomes	CM	16/17	€             37.00
Philippe Coutinho	CAM/LW	17/18	€          130.00
Arturo Vidal	CM/CDM	18/19	€             18.00
Arthur	CM/CAM/CDM	18/19	€             31.00

Whether fans agree or disagree on Coutinho and Arthur, excluding them, the sum is still 183.25 m euros. However, the list does include notable purchases that failed in the Barcelona system, most notably: Alex Song, Arda Turan, and André Gomes.

The Barcelona system, the Barcelona DNA, is rooted in the Dutch philosophy of “total football.” The philosophy of the great Ajax of Amsterdam and Dutch National Teams was transfused into Barcelona as the legendary coach Rinus Michels brought, not only, “total football” to Barcelona but Johan Cruyff.

The system is not something that any player can do, and at Barcelona, regardless of the manager, there’s only the Barça way. In Ramón Calderón’s Newsweek.com column (24 March 2016), Cruyff was quoted as saying, “In my teams, the goalie is the first attacker, and the striker the first defender.”

Ball movement from the back is a core tenet of Barça and ball handling, creativity, and high intelligence are instrumental to succeed in the club.

It’s no wonder why so many center-backs and midfielders have failed, because outside of Barcelona there’s only one other club that practices “total football”: Ajax of Amsterdam.

Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt are the two players in the last ten years—yes, 10 years—that most embody the philosophy, playstyle, and displayed the projection necessary to succeed at Barça. They’re not only, short-term but long-term bets for a club whose philosophy relies on ball movement from the back, the tiki-taka, or total football. There is no club in the world that needs players cut from a particular cloth like Barcelona—these two are cut from said cloth!

Like any bet, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but missing out on these two talents would be sacrilegious. It would represent turning the back on the DNA that separates Barça from the rest of the elite clubs. But, most importantly, it may mean missing out on generational talents that may dictate the amount of silverware the club collects in the immediate and long-term future.

At 150 million euros for the pair, they’re already a bargain for Barça, considering the € 480.95 million euros spent on players who couldn’t even make it to the “once de gala” or starting eleven.