There are punishments, and then there are punishments. And then there’s what FIFA handed Barcelona FC: a 14-month a transfer ban and 500,000 Swiss Franc fine for repeated breaches of regulations on signing underage players. It looks like a punishment, sure—looks like a pretty severe one. But is it really all that bad?
Setting aside the fine as the relative pittance that it is—Barcelona had revenue exceeding €490 million in 2012–13—it’s the transfer ban that is really intended to sting. At worst, such a ban could be a mortal wound to a football club. The constant in and out of talent is the lifeblood of a squad—choking that off means, of course, that the club can’t add quality where it’s lacking, and they can’t ship out problem pieces or raise funds by cashing in on in-demand stars. Improvement from without, from the transfer market, is overwhelmingly how clubs get on in the soccer world. Significantly for Barcelona, a transfer ban also leaves the club a year behind in the never-ending race to uncover young prospects and secure long-term success. It was in service of that last goal especially that Barcelona so consistently skirted the rules before FIFA finally had enough and, citing 10 instances of Barca signing underage players—along with “several other concurrent infringements”—weighed in against the four-time European champions.
And now Barcelona is bearing the punishment, a ban on signing or selling players this upcoming summer or in the January 2015 transfer window. Luckily for them, there’s just about no club on Earth better equipped to absorb a transfer ban. Assuming they don’t appeal it (which they’ve confirmed they will), or assuming that appeal is not successful (which, really, it could be—Chelsea had a similar ban overturned on appeal in 2010), Barca should be fine. They’re unique among the elite of European soccer in their reliance on home-grown players. Where most of Europe’s elite teams build their success on the backs of high-profile, big-money signings of established stars, Barcelona tends toward uncovering raw, talented youngsters and developing them in the greenhouse that is their La Masia academy (which, again, is perhaps why they were so prolific in their violation of rules against bringing minors into their system).
A look at the current Barca roster illustrates the point: 16 of the 25 players in the squad came up through the ranks at Barcelona to secure their spot with the first team. That’s 64 percent—unheard of for a team of Barcelona’s stature. On any given day they can field a starting 11 of men who played for Barcelona as boys—former Barca youth players account for 70 percent of La Liga appearances for the first team this season. Most big teams have only a handful of youth graduates in their squads: Only five former Real Madrid academy players have seen significant La Liga action this year, about the same for Manchester United youth products in the BPL; Manchester City—who Barcelona recently knocked out of the Champions League—regularly field just one former youth player.
The upshot is that Barcelona is that rare elite-level team that doesn’t rely heavily on the transfer market. In each of the last three seasons, the club made just two new transfer singings. In the same period Real Madrid made twice as many, BPL heavyweights Chelsea five times as many. Barcelona’s low transfer turnover is as institutional (they changed managers twice in the three seasons mentioned above) as it is successful—the Blaugrana claimed six trophies in that span.
That doesn’t mean the ban won’t hurt Barcelona at all. Like any team they’ll want to tweak their squad in the off-season, especially to shore up a backline that has seen better days, with Carles Puyol especially showing the wear and tear of his 35 years. Moreover, it remains to be seen whether the already agreed upon and much needed €12-million transfer of Borussia Moenchengladbach keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen will be allowed to go through.
And the well-oiled machine that is Barcelona’s youth development may slow, if not grind to a halt, for a season. Without the ability to loan their promising youngsters out to cut their teeth in top-level leagues, Barcelona’s senior squad could feel the pinch in years to come when those players’ development lags behind the expected curve.
But for next season Barcelona can, as always, look within it’s own ranks for a year’s worth of reinforcement. Martin Montoya and Marc Batra have already been leaned on this season to fill holes in the backline left behind by injuries to Puyol, Dani Alves and Gerard Pique—with enough success that Barcelona boasts La Liga’s second-fewest goals against, and just last week Montoya signed a five-year contract extension. Striker Gerard Deulofeu’s successful loan spell at Everton in the BPL shows his readiness to step into the Barca lineup next season. Adama Traore, though just 18, has already featured on the wing for the senior team and is primed for more time on the pitch next season. The list, as per usual with Barcelona, goes on.
So sure, Barcelona broke the rules. And yeah, FIFA has rightly handed down a punishment. But you’d be hard-pressed to find a club less likely to suffer the ruling.