Barcelona will be looking to improve the squad in the last few days of the transfer window, according to manager Ernesto Valverde.
After being appointed in the summer as replacement for Luis Enrique, the former Athletic Bilbao manager has been left with plenty of disappointments as far as the squad is concerned. Barcelona lost Neymar in a € 222 million deal to PSG, despite the club wishing to keep the player at all costs. However, PSG were able to activate the release clause of the player. Followed by this disappointment, the club had several rejections in the transfer market and the inability to bring in the main targets.
Philippe Coutinho has been one of the primary names being regarded as the replacement for Neymar. The style of play of the Liverpool midfielder is exactly similar to that of Neymar, and Barcelona saw him as an ideal replacement. Yet, several rounds of negotiation and many bids have seen Barcelona still be quite far away from being able to get their man.
As a result, the club brought in Borussia Dortmund winger Ousmane Dembele for a whopping € 145 million. The French international has become the fifth signing of the summer. Paulinho, Nelson Semedo, Marlon Santos, andGerard Deulofeu are the major signings for Barcelona this summer.
Even after having brought in Dembele,Valverde claims that he is looking to strengthen the squad even more.”We hope that when Aug. 31 arrives and the transfer market closes we have a more competitive team. I will work with the players I have got, but we hope to have an even better team and we’re open [to signings] if we have a chance, that’s clear,” said Valverde. The former Athletic Bilbao manager gets to face Espanyol at the Camp Nou when the league action resumes this weekend.