Barca and the confusing start to an ambitious season

On the morning of July 26, the entire Barca team landed at Osaka Airport (Japan), starting their summer tour. After an hour of traveling by bus, the players arrived at the Kobe Portopia Hotel, ate, rested and warmed up right there, before having a training session at 6:00 p.m. at Noevir Stadium, where they will face Vissel Kobe the next day (July 27).

Ahead of the trip to Japan, President Joan Laporta declared that Barca's current squad was "the most complete" he had ever had and, after last season's success, was starting to think about winning the Champions League next season. With this confidence, the Barca President also added that the loan deal for Marcus Rashford from Manchester United had closed the transfer window and no further deals were being made.

This summer, while Real spent about 190 million euros, Atletico invested 150 million to strengthen their squad, La Liga champions Barca only spent about 27.5 million on two new players, Rashford, midfielder Roony Bardghji and goalkeeper Joan Garcia.

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen causes trouble for Barca with back surgery.

The problem is that Barca are currently unable to sign Joan Garcia, a €25m signing much loved by coach Hansi Flick. That's because goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has decided to undergo back surgery, which will keep him out for three months. The 33-year-old's injury has prevented Barca from selling him in the summer, and the announcement that he will be out for three months instead of four means the Catalans will not be able to use 80% of his salary to sign another player.

Barca had been planning to push Ter Stegen out of the Nou Camp after angrily refusing to speak to fans after being benched for the final home game of the season against Villarreal. Now he has put Barca in a difficult position. They cannot register goalkeepers Joan Garcia and Wojciech Szczesny, meaning they will have to stop trying to sell 26-year-old Inaki Pena.

In the coming days, both President Laporta and Sports Director Deco will have to act, if they do not want the new season plan to be affected right from the start.