Carnivore Chris

While wearing Atletico Madrid shirts

Followers on istagram as a 14 year old player. Crazy.

What about the (potential) best signings this season? To make it simple, I'll pick a handful off the top of my head. Maxi Gomes to Celta Vigo - The young Uruguayan will become a top striker in Spain, that I'm sure of already. Kondogbia to Valencia - I'm not sure what happened with him in Italy, but he was class for Sevilla when he played in Spain. He's still young and looked quality on his debut against Real Madrid. Semedo to Barcelona - I think Dembele was the right signing himself, but the fee was questionable(although understandable given the inflated market), whereas with Semedo, he cost 25 million euros which is (scarily) nothing in the current transfer market. He looks the real deal and could well be a steal there when you consider how much Arsenal wanted for Bellerin, who I don't believe is even a superior player. Vitolo to Atletico Madrid - 33 Million sounds like a great price now for a player who has been one of the stand outs in la liga over the past few seasons and is now is in his prime. He can't join up with Atletico until January(he will play on loan at Las Palmas until then) but once he can join up with them, he's going to benefit them a lot.

I didn't realise City loaned that many players to Girona, jesus

Who are these players from the Premier League? I'm guessing a lot of them are Spanish themselves , although not all. From the top of my head:- Deulofeu(Barcelona), Navas(Sevilla), Nolito(Sevilla), Lucas Perez(Deportivo), Remy(Las Palmas), Calleri(Las Palmas), Paulista(Valencia), Andreas Pereira(Valencia), Pau Lopez(Espanyol), Borja Baston(Malaga), Joel Campbell(Real Betis), Bojan Krkić(Deportivo Alaves), Muniesa(Deportivo Alaves), Amrabat(Leganes). Who else? I can't think.

The problems in midfield(that have been present for 2 years) have still not been addressed for me. A reinforcement in this area was vital this summer as far as I'm concerned. Sergi Roberto will get chances now in midfield, that is one plus sign, but Iniesta isn't the man he once was, he can't perform at his best every week anymore and Rakitic is hit and miss, although if the Croatian can reach his best level again consistently, then that will greatly improve the team. It's time to start giving proper chances to Denis Suarez as it's evident that he is a talent, who could improve the starting 11 and has even shown glimpses when he has come off the bench this season. He is always moving forward and looking to make things happen, which is just what the team need. It's now or never for him really, but the problem is, I can see Andre Gomes getting more minutes than he should be getting again and the fact is, he offers absolutely nothing and can't even pass the ball forwards. He is literally useless. Luckily the Dembele deal was pulled off as I believe he could be a real star at the club. The fee was questionable, but with the market how it is, it was going to take something ridiculous to prize him away from Dortmund. The negative is, that he's still only 20 and while he can offer a lot in the present, he still has a lot to learn and too much weight can't be placed in his shoulders too soon. Getting Suarez back to his best will also be important as his goals will be vital this season. Messi will still score plenty but given the lack of creativity in the midfield area(unless Denis Suarez plays of course!), the Argentine's playmaking abilities will be more vital than ever. One positive is the right back position. Semedo looks absolute class and I don't see why he won't continue to perform this way. He's hungry, suits the style of play and has many years ahead of him. Vidal is also good back-up, so it's an area that is definitely stronger now than it was last season. As for Digne, he can be a handy squad player to be honest. Alba is the first choice left-back, but Digne can fill in whenever he needs resting/Valverde decides to rotate. He offers depth, as does Paco Alcacer, who scored goals and linked up well with the the attack when he was given chances in his correct position towards the end of last season. Playing Paco on the right(like against Betis) is obviously not going to get the best of him, but he can do a job through the centre and could be a handy squad player. With this said, I don't see why you'd let Sandro leave on a free and pay 30 million for Paco when Sandro would offer as much(if not more) as he does. Talking of depth, Deulofeu will offer that and I see his signing as being a positive one. He didn't play well against Real Madrid, but had a cracking debut in la liga. Dembele will obviously go on to become first choice, but Deulofeu will be a very useful player to bring off the bench to change games and be used during rotation. This is something Barcelona didn't have last season. The centre of defence could have done with another reinforcement, especially with Marlon being loaned out. If Umtiti is injured tomorrow then the only other option after Mascherano, is Vermaelen and you can't rely on him when he has legs made of glass and isn't anything special anyway. Yerry Mina will join up with the squad in January and could well be a success in Europe, but January is a while away yet and there are a lot of games to play before then. Depth is looking stronger in a few areas, but weaker in others. If everyone is fit, then there is still enough there to challenge for trophies, but if there are injuries in key areas then it could end up being a long season.

Vedran has also gone there from Valencia on loan. Joel Campbell has returned on loan to Betis(why don't Arsenal finally just sell the lad?) and Sergi Darder has gone to Espanyol on loan with an option to buy for 8 million euros.

It looks like Bojan could be off to Las Palmas. I think that would be a beneficial move allround. Las Palmas could do with a striker and Bojan needs a new leash of life. Since leaving Barcelona, he had never played in Spain, although I believe it's where he'd be most likely to settle down at. He's played in England, Germany and Italy and while he's done alright, he has never truly settled down and played his best football. A move to Las Palmas could really be what he needs. He's still only about 26 so he still has plenty left. Speaking of Las Palmas. I will be looking out for Halilovic this season. He seems to have gone under the radar recently and people are no looking speaking about the potential he had, although he's still young with plenty of time to develop as a player and it'll be interesting to see if Las Palmas is that club where he can finally show what he's about. Samper is there now as well. These are all players that at some time, we all thought were going to make it big at Barcelona. Then again, in Samper's case, this is still a real possibility given that he's only just breaking onto the scene. He will have learnt a lot at Granada last season, although he will be playing around a much more talented group at Las Palmas and it will be ideal for his development.

I'm already signed up to a Barcelona forum Ricardo, but it's in Spanish. I haven't been on for a while, but whenever I used to go on there, I admittedly just used to spend my time messaging women on it(even got one's number in fact who lived in Bilbao ), although I haven't been on it for a while. I'd rather come on here personally. It's the only forum I really bother with nowadays and I doubt I'll ever really bother with another forum again. Other than the Spanish speaking Barcelona forum and this one/TFF, I've never really stuck around on many forums. Well apart from the Blackburn Rovers one back in the day, which is where I originally know @JOSHBRFC from, before the TFF days.

I thought you claimed it didn't exist?

If that's me in 10 years then I'll be winning to be honest

There is a scaffold company who work on the same building site as I do called "MDS", well there we have it.

"Arsenal are prepared to meet a £75m buyout clause to sign Real Madrid's Spain midfielder Marco Asensio, 21, before Thursday's transfer deadline. (Sunday Express)"

1. I'd Keep Mascherano unless Martinez is bought, as he is not just the present but the future, although if Masch is kept(along with the young, promising Marlon Santos) then that could be sufficient until next season, where Masch will definitely move on most likely. 2. Alba suits Barcelona's system perfectly and will likely form something brilliant with Dembele, if the latter is to play down the left. As for Digne, I think he offers good enough back up to be honest, although Alba should always be first choice as it stands. 3. Turan is a quality player, but he's also a confidence one so he's never really going to get going at Barcelona I don't think and getting rid of him would be for the best definitely. 4. Seri should have been signed over Paulinho. 5. Definitely sell Vermaelen and Douglas, but Munir going out on loan(to say, Las Palmas, where Samper has recently gone on loan) would be more ideal. I'm not sure he will ever make it at Barcelona, but he is a talented kid and certainly not rubbish. 6. I'd sell Gomes, but Vidal offers sufficient enough cover for Semedo at right back in my opinion. 7. Iñigo Martínez is the one, he'd be a top signing. 8. Sergi Roberto will play all his football in midfield now I would have imagined, since Semedo will be first choice at right back along with Vidal as cover in this position. I could see Roberto featuring a lot in midfield this term and holding himself down a starting role. 9. Denis Suarez needs more chances as he's a quality player with a career still ahead of him. My formation and line-up would be identical to Balon's to be honest, so I don't need to bother making my own:-

I'm starting to get worried about Machado now....

The thing is, is that even though both would be gambles, they are also ones worth taking as they tick many of the boxes of what is needed and could potentially fix a lot of problems alone, especially when you consider the Semedo signing as well and the fact Deloufeu was bought to add that extra depth that was lacking.

Don't get me wrong, I always used to as well but I find him frustrating these days. At Benfica and Real Madrid, I thought he was excellent mate but I don't think it's a signing in the right direction anymore.

He's nearly 30 now(a player for the future and not just the present is needed, it would be a desperate buy), all the club would be doing is helping PSG balance their books so that they can buy players like Mbappe, he plays well once in every 10 games, his decision making gets worse with age and he's a clown. Di Maria would have been a great signing directly from Benfica back then but not anymore.

Douglas just looks out of place doesn't he?

Why would you pull out of deals for Seri, Dembele and Martinez, when all 3 are just what the club potentially need? Yet they go through with the signing of Paulinho. Coutinho would be a top signing, but you'd take those 3 over just him alone as him alone is not the answer to all the problems at all. With those 3 signings, along with Semedo and Deloufeu, that would have been an excellent window, but in the end, nobody else will be signed and it's due to the board's incompetencies. I'm now adamant that Neymar didn't leave for money and he certainly didn't leave due to being in "other players shadows", given how close he is to the squad and how much of a connection he grew towards the city. He left as he can see the poor direction the club is going in, so made a move to one who are going in a much better one.

I couldn't think of a worse signing. In fact if you asked me to name 2 signings which I believe would be the worst possible ones the club could make at the start of the summer, I'd have said Di Maria and Paulinho.

Then they still put bids in for your strikers as well Valdes Alves -- Pique -- Puyol -- Abidal Iniesta -- Busquets -- Xavi Messi - whichever 2 partnered him that season You've got to miss that team, even if you dislike Barcelona. It was just perfect!