Paulinho

IF we get him I expect him to replace Rakitić in best XI.

So midfield would be something like this:

Paulinho (Rakitić) - Busquets (Roberto) - Iniesta (Gomes)

if we'll stay with 4-3-3

Of course I could also be totally wrong and Valverde has different plans.

Messi983 said:

IF we get him I expect him to replace Rakitić in best XI.

So midfield would be something like this:

Paulinho (Rakitić) - Busquets (Roberto) - Iniesta (Gomes)

if we'll stay with 4-3-3

Of course I could also be totally wrong and Valverde has different plans.

Click to expand...

Why would he replace Rakitic in the starting 11 lol. Rakitic and Sergi are both miles ahead of him and he's not even better than our back ups.

'Do not throw the towel for Paulinho or Verratti'

Meanwhile at MD....

Sporting Department considers Paulinho to be our new Keita.

http://www.mundodeportivo.com/futbo...24162474072/barca-fichaje-paulinho-keita.html

In Barça know that the interest to sign Paulinho has been received between the fans and, above all, between the public opinion and the environment with division of opinions. While there are voices who argue that if the Brazilian is a request of Ernesto Valverde you have to go for it without hesitation, others say that it is not an indispensable signing. The circumstances surrounding the international ' canarinho ' interest do not help: he is older (he is almost 29 years old), he is not in the elite (China is a minor league), the price at which he is charged is high Millions of euros), is a more physical than technical player, does not seem to be called to be an undisputed starter and, moreover, if there is anything left over at Barca they are midfielders.

However, within the FC Barcelona have their arguments and are of weight. Thus, according to explain to MD from the technical area of ​​the club azulgrana, in the case of Paulinho what is sought is a player who performs a role similar to that played Seydou Keita in Barça Pep Guardiola . That is to say, a very physical player not exempt of a good technique for not disentangling in a team of virtuosos, with aggressiveness to defend and steal balls and also with good arrival to finish plays. In the club azulgrana maintain that in the first leg of the qualifiers against PSG and Juventus was missed a greater consistency in the average that could have provided a more physical player. In four seasons at Barca,

Click to expand...

using google translate.

Want a new Keita for 30m when we have a bunch of them already.

Keita cost 14m and was legit a great addition, rotation option for our incredible midfield.

30m for a guy not good enough and for a midfield with question marks over its head. Genius.

Messi983 said:

IF we get him I expect him to replace Rakitić in best XI.

So midfield would be something like this:

Paulinho (Rakitić) - Busquets (Roberto) - Iniesta (Gomes)

if we'll stay with 4-3-3

Of course I could also be totally wrong and Valverde has different plans.

Click to expand...

Will give it two months tops before Rakitic is back in the Starting XI and we're left with a 30m luxury sub.

This is such a bad plan man....such a bad plan.

So going by what Polo wrote they know the concerns from people saying this signing isn't necessary and not what we need but their argument is that he can be our new Keita? We already have the likes of Roberto and Rakitic for that.

I feel like they also missed the problems we had vs PSG and Juventus. I think while Physicality plays into it we are also missing CM's who can control and dominate the game. We have Busi and Iniesta but unfortunately the Don isn't the same player he once was as he's aging.

Can Paulinho add muscle and energy? yeah but we need more than just Muscle and energy, we need CM's who are strong on the ball along with being creative. You won't find a Iniesta and Xavi out there but their are players that share a similar profile that can be attainable. Just placing our hopes on a 29 year old Brazilian isn't going to solve our issues.

New Keita my ass, now they are looking for opportunity to steal money from this club even from China, pathetic, filling their pocket with Vermalene the crooked and Douglas the noob is not enough.

ryuken said:

New Keita my ass, now they are looking for opportunity to steal money from this club even from China, pathetic, filling their pocket with Vermalene the crooked and Douglas the noob is not enough.

Click to expand...

Douglas was pure money laundering. Wouldn't throw Vermaelen in the same boat though.
Mind you, Laporta did the same shit with few of his own signings.

Bojan said:

Douglas was pure money laundering. Wouldn't throw Vermaelen in the same boat though.
Mind you, Laporta did the same shit with few of his own signings.

Click to expand...

dont know man, Vermaelen signing was shady as hell, all the doctors warned against signing him, yet they annouced that he "passed his medical" lol

We seem to be doing well in reinforcing the Backline, especially the CB spot these days and we have the likes of Cucu,Palencia etc coming through the Fullback positions from the B team that can help add good squad options if needed but when it comes to the Midfield we are totally lost.

The Likes of Verratti,Ceballos, Seri are good options and there's a lot more that have been posted here as ideas but since we lost Ceballos to Real and Verratti being difficult to acquire, one would think the likes of Seri would be another ideal option to reinforce the Midfield.

But instead for some reason we are chasing after a Brazilian B2B Midfielder who already shares the same attributes to the likes of Rakitic and Roberto. We are able to put 2 and 2 together for Goal Keepers and the Backline (even though it did take a year for us to finally get Semedo) but we cannot for the life of us do so with the Midfield.

The Midfield was once our strongest area but now it's become our weakest. these guys are making things so complicated when it shouldn't be that way. Sure you won't find a Midfielder the same levels as Xavi and Iniesta out there but we should be looking at players who have a similar profile to them either in the market or from the B team.

We don't need another Keita, we already have the likes of Roberto and Rakitic that can fill that role.

We should just get Seri. This window would be great with Deulofeu, Seri, and Semedo. Paulinho is too damn old. We can't sign another 30 years old and give him high wages. I prefer a 25-26 years old midfielder.

Messi983 said:

IF we get him I expect him to replace Rakitić in best XI.

So midfield would be something like this:

Paulinho (Rakitić) - Busquets (Roberto) - Iniesta (Gomes)

if we'll stay with 4-3-3

Of course I could also be totally wrong and Valverde has different plans.

Click to expand...

WTF? Rakitic is f... Maradona for Paulinho!

There is a transition going on

Madrid is becoming more and more technical and cerebral in their play

Barca is becoming the more gritty, combative team especially with the addition of Paulinho

Joppe said:

Why would he replace Rakitic in the starting 11 lol. Rakitic and Sergi are both miles ahead of him and he's not even better than our back ups.

Click to expand...

Paulinho will be a starter.
We are not chasing him like crazy to have him as a 5th pick behind Rakitic, Iniesta, Roberto, Rafinha and other guys.

DonAK said:

Want a new Keita for 30m when we have a bunch of them already.

Keita cost 14m and was legit a great addition, rotation option for our incredible midfield.

Click to expand...

14M a back then is like 30-35 today.
So, Keita wasn't cheap either.

xXKonan said:

But instead for some reason we are chasing after a Brazilian B2B Midfielder who already shares the same attributes to the likes of Rakitic and Roberto.

Click to expand...

I will be a party breaker.
Even though I don't think that Paulinho is a world class, imo, he is still better than Rakitic and Roberto in defending and aggression.
Rakitic plays like an old man for the last 18 Months. NOT only because of Lucho. He was equally as horrible for Croatian NT team in the last 18 months, running like a turtle on a field.

About Roberto, Paulinho is taller and (way) stronger.
Not to mention one more time that Roberto has low Cm experience and played 20-30 times as a Cm for Barca in the last 3 years.

As time passes, I can, to some extent understand why we want Paulinho.
Our all midfielders are of the same mold, or are of the squad level:
1. Iniesta: physically weak always. Currently old, can't run. Not a physical guy
2. Rakitic: somewhat physical guy, but lost a lot of his skills due to age and not being able to run like crazy anymore. On paper, a physical hardworker. In reality: way past his best days.
3. Rafinha: physically weak. Injured all the time. Skill level: squad level.
4. Gomes: on paper he is a taller guy. In reality, he is weak in duels and a horrible fit for Barca.
5. Denis: have a physical strength of a 13 years old teengirl. Skill level: it is even questionable whether he is a squad level for Barca?
6. Arda: an old granny, can't run anymore.
7. Samper: a sloppy guy. Far from a physical Casemiro-Paulinho guy
8. Roberto: currently a midfielder who can run the most. But defensively not as good and not as aggressive as Paulinho. Also, Paulinho is taller and stronger. Roberto is also quite suspicious in attack.

All in all, all of our current midfielders are either physically weak (good old technical-short Barca's midfielders).
And a few guys who are somewhat stronger (Rakitic, Gomes) are either old or don't know how to use their strength (Gomes).

So, to some extent, Paulinho really is a different type of a player.
Whether he will improve us is, that is a question.
But out of current midfielders (except Roberto), more or less it feels as if you are playing the same player (with a different name) over and over.

This pursuit for Paulinho is wrong in every way possible. Thank god for based Chinese who refuse to sell. Protect us from our own stupidity!

I agree with what has been said. We need to control the ball more. If we control the ball as we should, there is less need for a player who can wrestle with opponents to get it back. Why think negativistic and plan for what we should make sure it doesn't happen often in the first place? Control the ball in midfield and we become stronger. These idiots are trying to make us play PL style football.