Barcelona's Rayo Vallecano draw shows why they need Bernardo Silva
FT Desk
- 14 Aug 2022 10:01 BST
- 3 min read
Barcelona could only labour to a 0-0 draw with Rayo Vallecano in their La Liga opener with on Saturday. Bernardo Silva's arrival from Manchester City looks urgent.
Most of the focus before the game was on whether or not Barca would be able to register their summer signings in time to play.
Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde cost a cool €160 million, and Barca's books weren't sufficiently balanced to abide by La Liga financial regulations.
Lewandowski's Barcelona debut did not go as planned 😔 pic.twitter.com/fFrS4X39qM
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) August 14, 2022
In the end, a fourth financial lever - the selling of 24.5 per cent of Barca Studios to Orpheus Media for €100m - was activated in a nick of time, and Lewy and Raphinha were handed debuts, as was Franck Kessie from the bench.
Barca dominated possession at their Camp Nou, but that only translated into six shots on the opposition goal, and Guillem Balague, for one, thinks that there is work to do to make the side more penetrative.
Pedestrian midfield
"Clearly the midfield of Barcelona, with the exception of Pedri, has not got the subtle touch/thinking necessary to play as Xavi wants," he tweeted.
"...to find the right tempo, to feed forwards (and Busquets has played his best football). Hence Xavi wanting Bernardo Silva (and asking for Messi)."
Bernardo would certainly help in the chance creation department. The Portuguese has laid on 51 assists in his five full seasons with Man City and last season was in the 99th percentile league-wide for progressive carries and touches in the attacking penalty area.
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Sergio Busquets' frustration spilled over and he was sent off in injury time, while Bernardo would no doubt be an upgrade on Gavi, who seems to be highly rated by association with his former academy teammate Pedri.
Silva wants to go to Barcelona, and the club consider the player to be the final piece of the jigsaw as they look to build a squad that would strike fear into the rest of world football.
On Saturday's showing, Silva can't come soon enough.
