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| photo by Bagunçêiro |
- by Adam Huntington, writing from Dundee, Scotland
His decision, on paper, was a simple one. The choice between Barcelona; possibly the greatest team of our generation, or Manchester City; a team undoubtedly on the rise, but still unestablished, should really have taken no time at all to make. The problem was that once money came into play, the choice became much more difficult. Renowned for paying ludicrous weekly wages to their players, it wouldn't have been a huge surprise for greed to envelop Sanchez and send him to Manchester. Udinese's director of sport, Fabrizio Larini, insisted that Sanchez's personal preference was "very important", which hints - quite refreshingly - that money wasn't the only factor in this transfer. However, the reported €50 million price tag Udinese threw around his neck goes a long way to contradict that statement, not that it's seemed to bother the Catalan giants.
With the deal starting last month, many want to know why hasn't it been closed out. The answer begins here; Sanchez is currently in Argentina with Chile, obviously meaning he cannot perform a medical or physically sign any sort of contract thus sealing the deal. However this is a slightly naive way of looking at events. For me, it's much more likely that Barca are having a good look at Sanchez in action, playing in tournament football with a lot of pressure and expectation on his shoulders. With that in mind, the most talked about player in the world seems to be handling things exceedingly well, which will surely please Barcelona no end. What won't please Pep Guardiola is the potential selection head-ache that Sanchez will most definitely give him.
Within the strongest team in the world, who does Guardiola lose to fit in the Chilean wonderkid? The front three of Messi, Villa and Pedro have proved time and time again to be ruthless against the best defences in club football. Messi's a permanent fixture so it's between Spain forwards Pedro and Villa, and between them; I believe Pedro will hold his place. The latter was, by his usual standards, poor for most of the second half of last season. He's also much older than both Pedro and the incoming Sanchez. A front line of Sanchez, Messi and Pedro would have an average age of just 23, a very attractive prospect for Guardiola, especially if he could keep them together for a number of years. Leaving a player of Villa's calibre out of the team will obviously have negative aspects; Barcelona would lose a lot of years experience and the only real out and out striker they have possess. Despite Messi's superhuman tally of goals, he's just not the poacher that Villa can be. I'm in no way hinting that goalscoring will suddenly become difficult for Barcelona if Villa is dropped, but they'll no longer have a player that can sit between the penalty spot and the 6-yard line. As I hinted, I think Barca will opt to start with Messi in the center of the forward three, flanked by Pedro and Sanchez. With Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets (or possibly Fabregas) behind them, the amount of creativity within the team is almost endless, which should mean that their fans are in for more beautiful football in the coming seasons.
The selection process will be an enthralling one come the start of the season as there's still the very real possibility that Cesc Fabregas will arrive from Arsenal. If he does so, one key question will surface; is there such a thing as having too many good players? Real Madrid have almost been in that situation before, but not with a team that have grown up together. Guardiola faces that challenge as well as trying to blending new players into a very together team. With that in mind, it may take Sanchez a while to perform to his true potential, but there's no doubt that by joining Barcelona, his potential has increased dramatically.
