Finally, the 2023/24 season is about to kick off and Barcelona travel to meet José Bordalás’s Getafe on an away trip. With several quality additions as well as some concerning questions still unanswered, Barcelona are eager to leave the problems behind and erase the negatives with a positive showing on the first matchday of La Liga.
Barca News Network brings you 3 talking points ahead of the season opener as Barcelona take on Getafe in the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, from 9:30 local time.
1. Seamless signings
While Barcelona haven’t broken the bank with their summer signings, nor are these the fanciest moves on the market, the pre-season proved that the club made smart business with their recruitment.
For a combined €3.5 million fee, they acquired 3 seasoned veterans in Ilkay Gundogan, Inigo Martinez, and Oriol Romeu, who can still add much-needed value in the Blaugrana roster despite their age.
Moreover, except Martinez who is out injured, both Romeu, whose La Masia past was visible, and Gundogan, who is tailormade for our playstyle, showed seamless adaptation in the past few games, indicating that their full integration to the squad will not take too much time, even in sharp competitive situations.
2. Individual redemptions
The pre-season brought other pleasant surprises as well, with some players that had to prove that they are worthy to be here really stepping up and performing to a promising level. Ferran Torres, who was mainly deployed as a striker, has found his goalscoring boots, proving that he can perform up to the club’s standards while offering a proper backup option to Lewandowski.
The same goes for Ansu Fati, who stole the show with his fantastic goal vs Milan, and showed confidence, explosiveness, and courage overall in the pre-season, something he lacked after his injuries.
Another great revelation was Eric Garcia, whose decent performances will be needed to continue during the upcoming campaign should the other defenders remain struggling with fitness.
3. Registration issues solved
With just a few hours remaining before the league start, Barcelona were still far from ready to go, struggling with registering their players to be available for the season opener. It was reported that only 11 players were registered in the Blaugrana first team, while 9 players including the 3 new signings were waiting to be registered.
Thankfully, the last few hours saw the majority of the problems sorted, with the club closing a deal with LIBERO Football Financing and NIPA Capital to raise around €120 million, while the departures of Dembele and Kessie also helps to register Ronald Araujo, Ilkay Gundogan, Sergi Roberto, Oriol Romeu, and Ez Abde for the league start.
