Abidal is official; Barcelona heart spending $…er €

By: Isaiah | June 28th, 2007

The word is out that the Abidal transfer is legit, so that’s good news. Barcelona have agreed to a 14million euro ($18.8million, or like 3, maybe 4 British pounds) transfer fee and will reportedly pay Abidal 2million euros ($2.6million) a year. I’ve also seen a fee of 15m euros, but more often I’ve seen 14m. This brings the total cost of this spending spree on French or French-speaking players to 47million euros in just a couple of days (24 for Henry, 9 for Yaya Toure, and now 14 for Abidal).

From the looks of it, Barca are going for Chivu still, but with diminishing hopes of splashing out absurd cash for him. Damn. So we’ve filled two of the three positions we needed reinforcement/replacement in, which is a good start, but I still think it was a mistake to throw down $32million on a player who was not necessary – if we’re losing 0 of our offensive stars, why does it seem everyone believes our goal tally, 3rd best in Europe last year, wouldn’t be enough to carry us next season as well? With an improved defense, you get more possession time and thus more goals without having to add another striker to an already overcrowded front line. Especially considering the fact that Eto’o will be healthier due to the offseason than he has been and that means more goals and more assists from him, translating into more room to breathe for Ronnie, Messi, and Deco, meaning more goals from them as defenses would have to respect Eto’o’s individual abilities far more and allow those 3 to run at their opponents, which is their strong suit. Of course Iniesta or Xavi will suffer the consequences of the Henry signing, meaning that we’re going to be without a vital midfielder so that we can send another striker into a box crowded with defenders. Great. I hope the English longball tactics work…

I’m just a little peeved about this whole Henry thing, but I hope (somewhat desperately) that I’m wrong. It’s not a sensation I like, this being wrong thing, but I’m definitely rooting for it this time. I can’t wait to write the “Oh man was I dumb” post when Henry and Eto’o combine for 80 goals next season.

Abidal is a great addition, as most people can probably guess. Without Gio our left fullback position was a gaping hole just waiting for some virile striker to…you get the idea of this metaphor already, I think. Abidal can provide an attacking force akin to Gio (who hasn’t scored in years), but I think is stronger as a defender. Hopefully he’ll fit right in and play with the same passion that made Gio so loveable (though I always thought Gio was trying to make himself look tougher, more badass than he really is, like some 15-year-old wearing a leather jacket and smoking just to fit in with the seniors; I don’t know where I ever got that impression, but between the grandmotherly “aw, Gio, what a nice kid” thoughts, there was always that…I have issues).

As for Toure, well, the only thing I know about him, still, is that he’s “the new Vieira”…not that we’re comparing him to Vieira or anything, you know, but he’s got the same physical characteristics and style of play and abilities and thought processes and fashion sense and they like the same movies and…yeah. Apparently he’s like Vieira. I guess. And why does his jersey now say Toure Yaya? I don’t get that. Can anyone explain? He’s the first Ivorian to play for the club, which is cool. There’s so much talent in Africa and I wish Barcelona would look there more for it (and maybe they do, I don’t know), especially if Toure really works out.

As for Chivu, well, we need a defender, but who else is up for auction? So far we’ve gone without a bidding war and I don’t think Chivu is the type of player worth such a war, especially not if Inter really want him. I mean, whatever. Puyol is made of iron and by “knee injury” they probably actually mean he lost his knee and just has to wait for another one to be made for him in some strange factory. His real name is Alex J. Murphy. But yeah, we need someone to shore up the defense, even though, as I’ve said, we were tied for best goals allowed record in La Liga and 4th overall in Europe. Pretty good for a leaky defense; it’s just that we fell asleep at the wheel in crucial moments and it would be good to get someone in there to sort of ease into replacing Thuram, who is 93 by my latest calculations (he was born in 1914). Valencia seems to have the right idea with their 21-year-old Alexis Ruano and I think moving in on someone like that is a good idea as well, but no one at Camp Nou will return my phone calls about Jonathan Bornstein…