Practically every coach in the world would be delighted if his club president wanted to spend heavily on new signings.
Pep Guardiola, however, is not a typical coach.
New Barcelona president Sandro Rosell is keen to start his reign with a series of new signings, but Guardiola is busy persuading him not to spend.
Guardiola prefers to promote youngsters from the club’s nursery team — as he did last season with World Cup-winners Sergio Busquets and Pedro — rather than permit new signings to possibly upset the harmony which reins in his beloved dressing room.
Two weeks ago Rosell lined up the signing of World Cup revelation Mesut Oezil from Werder Bremen — only for Guardiola to stop the operation. Oezil then signed for Real Madrid, in a move that Guardiola, Rosell and the Barca fans may one day regret.
This week Rosell is trying to make a deal with Liverpool for the purchase of Javier Mascherano. Then he will have to persuade Guardiola to give his approval, never an easy feat.
Guardiola has raised eyebrows, and doubts, with his resistance to new signings.
Online polls and blogs last week showed that most Barca fans would have welcomed Oezil with open arms — and are worried about the lack of signings.
Only David Villa, from Valencia, and Adriano, from Sevilla, have arrived at the Camp Nou this summer, whilst four players — Rafa Marquez, Thierry Henry, Dmytro Chygrinskiy and Yaya Toure — have left.
Real, in contrast, have made eight new signings, including Oezil.
There are only 18 players in the current Barca squad, and this number may soon be reduced to 17 if Zlatan Ibrahimovic is sent packing, as Guardiola clearly wants.
It is true that Guardiola also has at his disposal a talented, ambitious nursery team, any of whom can be called up for first-team action at any time.
But many columnists and former players are starting to doubt whether such a thin squad will be able to survive a long, tough season in La Liga and Europe.
Former Barca and Spain defender Migueli commented last week that “this squad needs to be reinforced by three or four players of guarantee.” Former winger Francsco Carrasco, for his part, said that “it is a little risky to always rely on the youngsters, and expect them to always do the job of experienced professionals.” Guardiola is expected to blood talented greenhorns like Albert Fontas, Jonathan dos Santos, Thiago Alcantara and Jeffren Suarez this season.
So far, his priority-to-the-kids policy has reaped rich rewards, with the likes of Busquets and Pedro helping the “Pep Team” to win eight major trophies in two years.
But — many fans and commentators are asking — will the youngsters always be able to supplement such a thin squad?
