Barcelona had a proven, in-form forward sitting in their squad, a title medal around his neck, available to buy for around €30m. That's roughly £26m. They passed.
Then they turned around and spent, by most estimates, somewhere near €109m on two wingers who haven't kicked a competitive ball for the club yet. If that's a plan, it's a strange one, and the numbers back that up.
The player they let go
Marcus Rashford has said goodbye to Barcelona and returned to Manchester United ahead of the new Premier League season, his loan spell over. The option to make it permanent, set at around €30m, was tied to a June 15 deadline. That deadline came and went with Barca deciding not to take it up.
This wasn't a punt on potential. Rashford scored 14 goals in 49 appearances across all competitions and helped Barca win LaLiga and the Spanish Supercopa under Hansi Flick. He added assists too, somewhere between 11 and 14 depending on who's counting. Either way, this is a player who helped win trophies, then went and scored for England at the World Cup. Whatever story Barcelona might want to tell about faded talent or injury risk, the pitch kept undercutting it.
On his way out he thanked the club for "making my time here such a positive and memorable experience," adding he'll "take many special memories" with him. It's a gracious message, but also the kind a player sends when he'd have happily stayed.
The players they bought instead
Barcelona brought in Anthony Gordon from Newcastle on a five-year deal for £69.3m (€80m) including add-ons. Then they added Karim Adeyemi from Borussia Dortmund, a deal worth an initial €22m plus around €7m in add-ons, so up to roughly €29m.
Stack those together and you're looking at close to €109m for two forwards, against the €30m option Barca declined on a title-winning contributor. Nearly four times the outlay, spent on players who haven't proven anything in this shirt yet.
Now, the case for the defense. Gordon scored 17 goals in all competitions last season, including 10 in 12 Champions League games, which sounds terrific until you read the fine print: nine of those 17 came from the penalty spot. Penalties count. But they're not the open-play threat you're paying £69m for.
Adeyemi is talented and quick, and cheap relative to his market value. But the most honest scouting report on him came from the man himself. "I couldn't believe it to be honest because I know what I can do and the last season was not the best," he said of joining Barcelona. When your new signing volunteers that his previous campaign underwhelmed, you don't need a rival to raise the question mark.
