Barcelona bowing to bitter rival Real Madrid, 2-0, exposed the pressing need to beef up the Camp Nou and that will be the summer mission for club boss Quique Setien. Reportedly, Setien will be targeting at least four new hiring - composed of two attackers and two defenders that will support the club's superstar, Lionel Messi.
Barcelona will be ready to spend big in order to make the club even more competitive. The planned acquisitions will make for a mini-rebuild of the team, and the objective is to snatch as many titles as possible before Messi exits from the game for good.
Forbes said the new signings will be geared towards setting up a crew that will be "capable of competing for top silverware."
As always, Setien will be guided in his recruitment task by the thought of injecting fresh energy into Barcelona and, in the process, make the club function with the Argentine superstar as the center. It is possible that Barca will also hunt for a midfielder.
This early, two names have emerged as leading candidates, and both have the confidence of Messi. It is no secret that the team captain has been urging the Barcelona hierarchy to explore the possibility of bringing back Neymar, who left the club in 2017 for Paris Saint-Germain.
To this day, Messi has only good words for the Brazilian and the thought of Barcelona reforming the fabled MSN trio - composed of Messi, Neymar, and [Luis] Suarez - could easily strike fear on rivals not only in Spain but also in European competitions.
"I've said it many times, at a sporting level, Ney is one of the best in the world, and I would love him to return," the Argentine said in singing praises to his former teammate.
It's quite obvious that Messi also wants his compatriot, Lautaro Martinez, to be part of Barcelona. The skipper said his teammate in Argentina is a complete package and will be a spectacular addition to Barca.
"He is very strong, he is very good in one-on-ones, scores a lot of goals, and in the area he fights with anyone, he endures, he turns, he looks to do it alone. He has a lot of quality. He is very complete," said the team superstar about Martinez.
Meanwhile, Setien admitted the Barcelona squad that faced Real was suffering from dwindling options, especially in the striker department. The manager conceded that the Los Blancos high-pressing style caught Barca off guard.
Still, Setien insisted that the defeat failed to make a dent on his club's current campaign to capture the league title.
"The result is disappointing, but it is not the end of the title challenge, there is a long way to go," the Daily Star reported the Barca boss as saying.
