Top 5 News of the Week | Marc Bernal's Injury, Pedro Soma, and FFP Nightmare

Get Better Marc Bernal welcome to episode 611 of the Barcelona podcast brought to you by the bluewire podcast Network I'm Den Hilton and I didn't think you'd be seeing me before the match against Real VI the lead but there was way too much going on this week not to do another top five for the week with all the news and everything happening so here we are and by this week I'm actually just talking about the last 48 or so hours of all the news around FC Barcelona especially concerning the transfer window so particularly with said transfer window closing there is a lot to get to mostly bad some good news so let's Dive Right In topic one is get better Mark bnal all Transfer Window Slams Shut koola feared it when he went down against Rano but Mark Bol unfortunately yes the greatest fears of Kool-Aid have come to fruition the 17-year-old joined the ACL Club along with Anu fatti and gavi as Barca teenagers and will be out for the next 9 to 12 months you know I would have been gutted if this happened with him playing for Barca atletic but it's absolutely worst case scenario now with him in the first team and looking to be important for hansy flick at that position position of the double pivot but if we're already saying that a 17-year-old has become Irreplaceable this season for the first team and we really believe that then yes this team is in a lot of trouble this year in the first team but I don't think the Barca season was ever going to be pass or fail or should have been based on Mark Bol however not to contradict myself immediately like you know I always do but what is true is that the Barcelona first team in hanzi flick will definitely miss him this season it just a matter how much they miss him and they're obviously going to miss him even more this season because of the transfer window and the injuries to D young and gavi but before we talk transfers or lack there of this season I do want to put on the record about the optimism I have about Mark Bernal and his long-term future Bernal has a long way back that is true we don't know what kind of player he'll be when he returns however with his stature and skills not really relying on his speed and dynamism the way that Wingers have in the past AKA anati I would bet that he comes back as good as he ever was more than I would guess that he's never going to be the same player again and even the player he was that we just saw in the first three matches of this season that's not even a player that is fully developed into the best version of himself meanwhile the club is doing the right thing I know I said it the club is actually doing something right right now and doing the right thing is extending his contract until 2029 and they're looking to do that in the next few weeks that is the right thing to do take care of this kid and give him all the time in the world to get back to his best even if it takes him two years to look like he was at 17 I'd take those first three matches from a 19-year-old coming up from barc's Academy any day of the week and because he's so young hopefully the recovery goes even better and quicker than expected so get better soon Mark Bal and in the meantime what is hzi flick and Company going to do it has to be Mark cedo getting major minutes now and he has got to be good enough and I guess Danny Elmo will have to be pushed a bit deeper in this system maybe you play rafini in front of him and I guess it is pedri who'll be playing the pivot for at least the next few weeks and months honestly tomorrow's game against Real VI Del lead will say a lot about Flick's ideas for the next however long until any calry arrives whether in the janary transfer window or injuries or Eric Garcia topic two is transfer window slam Champions League Draw shut all right if that first topic wasn't depressing enough we have to talk about the transfer window which is also not full of any good news the official report is that Barcelona will likely not be making any deals for the first team until the window closes if there are any surprises obviously I'll be talking about it on the watch along and postgame after R the lead but I don't see that happening because the only way that happens is if there's movement with the Nike deal or an investor comes out of the woodwork for bar vision and those things don't happen quickly the other way would be a huge exit but just looking at the squad there are two healthy center backs two healthy deeper midfielders and the attack is still arguably missing a dynamic left Winger so yeah I can't see anyone more leaving after gwin and the number of players on the margins that were also shipped out to loans permanent sales even a last minute deal would be shocking to me after what I would call a mini debacle involving Liverpool Stefan btic he's a Spanish kid who was choosing between a loan to RB Salzburg or a loan to Barcelona and even his own father came out and said that no duh he'd pick Barcelona tago alcanta was also reportedly taking the lead in recruitment so that was going to help Barcelona and the loan deal would have been 4 million which is pretty high for a loan deal and with no buy option so not really a great loan for Barcelona but certainly an emergency situation but even then with a loan for 4 million ffp wasn't going to make it happen but we also kind of knew that after all the work that had to be done to get Danny Alm registered in time positive results will make us all forget these troubles in the next few weeks or some of them especially when the Nike deal is done and Barca is finally and I mean finally back to the one to one but if results aren't going barca's way that built-in excuse of squad depth will be scream from every Rooftop in Catalonia and I'll admit it I'll probably be saying it quite a bit into this microphone as well about that really being a built-in excuse and not being able to make an actual referendum on hanzi flick until he has enough players in his Squad to feel like he has the proper rotations to do what he wants to do which brings me to a patreon question from Daniel regarding Squad depth with so many injuries already piling up and our transfer business being so light due to financial restrictions how much of an impact do you think this will have on our performance this season now pessimistically and realistically I do think it will affect the Leo race in negative ways Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have both thrown Barcelona a Lifeline early by dropping four points from their first three games and Barca does have a reasonable domestic schedule until like November so they could survive but once the Champions League starts up that's just too many matches and not enough players and I'm big concerned about the league table with how long the absences are still set to be not a single more player can go down at this point even Barca atletic are dealing with a pile up of injuries they currently have 10 players on the sideline with some sort of issue including Danny Rodriguez and if Frankie D young news about surgery will he won't he that isn't helping anybody either the report of him refusing surgery and trying to return after the international break is coming from sources favorable to the glub so I really want to throw a lot of cold water on that but it is still a worrying report if it is true that he may never be himself without that surgery again I don't know how much I believe that obviously his contract makes him less than a beloved figure from the board and from a lot of people around the club but having gone four months neglecting surgery who knows what that means for his playing future either if there was any positive news about D young or Gabi wasn't actually coming off an ACL injury in November when he returns I would be more optimistic but also losing Mark Bol is basically worst case scenario now for Barcelona Christenson being out long term is also another nail in the coffin and I said it in that first headline almost in just but it's not for a guy that was almost out of the club last week back to Jona it might really be in Eric Garcia we trust for a few weeks and months going forward in that Midfield topic three is Champions League draw so from negative more to that neutral territory of feelings because the Champions League draw for the league phase was also today the results are Byron at home brusa Dortmund away that's from pot one Atlanta at home and Benfica away that's from pot two young boys at home and red star belgrad away from pot three and brast at home and Monaco away from pot four honestly it could have been slightly better but it could have also been way worse especially from pot two looking at up PSG avoiding all Premier League clubs also isn't a bad thing thing I think and hzi flick and Danny's familiarity with the Bundesliga clubs that may matter gives me a little bit of hope at least with what should be the two biggest games of That League phase and while I'm still trying to wrap my head around the new format it is just basically two extra matches in what replaces the group stage but also it's two extra matches after all these players needed way less games that's not great either I'll wait until the end of The League phase for a final judgment but like most changes two formats we'll get used to it and hear a lot of arguments for which are usually said by those who make the most money with it and there's going to be tons of arguments against the change in format until everybody gets used to it or you hear something good or bad from the players topic four is Pedro s on loan Pedro Soma on Loan finally a little bit of good news but I guess with a name that you don't really know so it maybe is just news not even good news because I don't want to be overhyping players but as arson Kev FCB had said on the show when we did the laasia tier list uh as far as I know Barcelona is looking to find uh a midfielder who is also playing for a youth national team of where he is from but he's playing in Spain let's say that but it's not closed as far as I know but they're working on it it is at least something to get excited if you care about the academy and maybe a future player for Barcelona Pedro s is an American midfielder who was playing at UE Cora he is now signed on loan with an option to buy the 18-year-old will probably play for bar atic but it looks like he's officially with the u9s so that should tell you how little you should expect to see him with the first team especially this season or not because 9's players could very well feature with the first team it have been for a few seasons now and Barcelona probably need other midfielders but again less likely for a kid who just showed up and plays the same position is he an attacking midfielder is he a central midfielder is he a deeper midfielder he's a bit too young and he had to do a bit too much for that Cora team so at the moment we just know that he plays midfield with a bunch of Athletic kids playing the same position what I will say is I would expect a laasia 62nd video on him sooner than later so I guess that's something to look forward to and topic five is Barca Barça Femení Cruising Through Preseason femin cruising through the preseason we finally got to I'd say the good news because yes Barca femin destroying everyone in their path on isn't necessarily news either but I will say that the preseason going as well integrating all the new players that's been good news 5-1 against hoffenheim 5 against meler 2 against Milan 5-2 against Bay FC and while they did lose a few names everyone who left was kind of expected Lucy bronze Sandra Panos and mariona those were the big names and a few top talents like Lucia corales Julia droni and Bruna vamala they went out on loan for more minutes which hopefully is good for Barcelona's future coming in has been Ellie robuk goalkeeper from Man City I pure forward from Wolfsburg and midfielder Maria Perez returned from a successful loan with Sevilla and then I guess the new new name Kika Nazareth is a 21-year-old Portuguese midfielder who signed from Benfica who should be a rotation piece all four have played in the preseason and look like they fit just fine with this all-conquering side and it has been fun to finally see Alexi payas back in a preseason again and it's also been pretty fun to see Claudia Pia with the number nine shirt it's not really again a top five piece of news but the BARC femine is still a favorite to win every competition they play in this season and when the first team and the men have the negativity off the field it's always good to remind you the bar femin also exists and is also so beginning their season but there is still good news for the Barca first team they're the only team in the lia to take nine points from their first three matches so Kool-Aid do not have to sit in the transfer window sadness for that long because match day four kicks off in less than 36 hours against we the lead the watch along will be on tifo 11:00 a.m. East Coast time 5:00 P p.m. local time promo code is Ola koolay and it's free to get in with the link in the description or show notes if you don't have time for that and you want to potentially get in a future show Subs subcribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcast or subscribing on YouTube as I'm really close we're talking about less than 250 people and then we are at 20,000 and what a journey it has been so subscribe if you're not already on the YouTube channel and as always until I see you in I guess a few hours and that's live this time around for saara [Applause] [Music]