Season 2012-13 preview Part III - New Club Signings

From inside the club

Sergi Roberto and Christian Tello have made their entry into the Barcelona official squad but I will not include them in the "New Additions" list. They are La Masia products and have already appeared for the first team. In fact, Tello played 22 games for Barca last season that included 15 league games and 3 European games. Not only that, he managed to score 7 goals in all. Not bad!
Sergi Roberto too made 4 appearances and scored 2 goals last season.

Well these were the additions made directly from the "B" team. Let us look into the players we "purchased" in the transfer market.

Jordi Alba

Jordi Alba isn't a new name to those who follow Spanish Football. He was part of the Spain National Team squad that won Euro 2012. In fact he even scored in the final 4-0 victory against Italy. Like Cesc Fabregas, Alba is Barcelona's own product. Yes, Barcelona did acquire him from Valencia this year but he was initially a Barcelona youth player for seven long years. It is sad that he was let off earlier and had to be re-purchased for 14 million Euros but then he comes with a lot of First-team experience which he would probably not get at Barcelona.

He has made 73 La Liga appearances for Valencia and scored 10 goals in the process. He currently joined Barcelona on a five-year contract.

Style of play 

He is essentially a left-back. He comes in place of Eric Abidal who has to go under the knife for a big surgery. He can also play as defensive midfielder but there are already a few options (including the established Sergio Busquets and the newly signed Alex Song) for that position. So expect him to get a lot of minutes in his original left-back position. Another player vying for the same position is Brazilian Adriano who managed to make 40 appearances in all competitions last season.

Jordi Alba can easily fit into Barcelona's style of play. He, like Dani Alves, can also provide support upfront as a Left Winger.

" I'm very happy to come back home to my family and my people" - Jordi Alba.

Alex Song

Cameroon's Alex Song is the other addition to the team. He was at Arsenal Football Club during the last 7 years. He has made 204 appearances under the great Arsene Wenger and scored 10 goals in the process. Interestingly, Song is from a large family. He has 10 brothers and 17 sisters.

He is basically a midfielder. So Why did Barcelona sign him? After all don't we already have the best three midfielders in the footballing world? Well he can play as a defensive holding midfielder. He may probably be a back up for Busquets. Moreover he replaces Seydou Keita who has made a whopping 188 official appearances for the club during the past four "Pep" years. He might essentially be used as a substitute in games as a holder that have already been practically secured.

After Van Persie, he was arguably the best player for Arsenal last season. He made 14 assists last season. He joins his ex-team mate and captain from Arsenal, Cesc Fabregas as the second signing from Arsenal in two years.