Barcelona are crying out for revolution according to Diario Sport. The Catalans will have a new president within two weeks, with elections set for 8 March. They could, however, be eliminated from the Copa del Rey three days before and the Champions League two days later. Whoever wins this election is joining an institution in a complicated situation with no margin for error.
Reports last week advanced that Ronald Koeman was keen to lead a second revolution regarding the playing squad, trimming the fat and blooding new talent. It remains to be seen, however, whether the incoming president will be keen to continue with the Dutchman at the helm of the club. The players Barcelona want to build around include Pedri, Ronald Araujo, Francisco Trincao, Frenkie de Jong, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Ansu Fati. There are burdensome cases in the club, with the likes of Clement Lenglet, Samuel Umtiti, Sergino Dest, Martin Braithwaite, Neto, Junior Firpo and Philippe Coutinho as of yet unable to convince they can lead Barcelona into this new future.
There are sacred cows like Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba who have served the club impeccably but are ageing, as well as hugely expensive investments like Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele. In any case, and even aside from the elephant in the room of Lionel Messi’s unresolved future, there are a lot of things that need to be resolved before Barcelona can move forward, no matter who the president is or who’s in the dugout at Camp Nou.
