Messidependencia: €400m spent on forwards yet Barcelona still reliant on Leo

Philippe Coutinho has been exiled, Ousmane Dembele is 

injured again while Antoine Griezmann has made an 

inauspicious start to his Camp Nou career

Barcelona fans last week were given another reminder of 

what life will be like once the unthinkable happens and Lionel 

Messi moves on.

They had made no breakthrough against Athletic Club in the 

first game of the Liga season by the time 38-year-old forward 

Aritz Aduriz netted a spectacular scissors-kick in injury time.

Despite all that money spent on Ousmane Dembele, on 

Philippe Coutinho and on Antoine Griezmann in the past two 

years – their three most expensive signings ever – Messi 

remains irreplaceable.

Griezmann is already on the back foot in the eyes of the 

Spanish press following an inept debut that will have done 

nothing to quell talk of a comeback for Neymar, while the 

other two can be classified along the scale of outright to 

qualified failures.

Coutinho has joined Bayern Munich on loan having failed to 

convince in Catalunya and is expected to complete a 

permanent move to Bavaria next summer.

Doubts remain over Dembele, meanwhile, because of his 

injuries and inconsistency.

Given that both Coutinho and Dembele were effectively signed

with the proceeds of Neymar's €222 million 

(£200m/$245m)sale to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, it is fair 

to say neither have provided value for money.

There is no doubting the skill of the World Cup-winning 

Frenchman, but Dembele has tested the patience of the club

 and its fans since arriving from Borussia Dortmund a couple 

of years ago as a replacement for Paris-bound Neymar.

The fees involved are astronomical. Coutinho is the second 

most expensive player of all time at €140m (£127m/$155m).

Dembele held that record briefly when he joined for an initial 

€105m (£95m/$116m). Griezmann, meanwhile, came in at a 

cost of €120m (£109/$133m) from Atletico Madrid this 

summer.

Throw in the €41m (£37m/$45m) fee paid to Bordeaux to 

Malcom – before he was shipped off to Zenit this summer – 

and that’s more than €400m (£360/$440m) on four players 

all bought with the express purpose of diversifying the attack 

from its Messi-dependence.

That’s not to say those four are bad players. Plus, it’s far too 

early to write off Griezmann even if he is at best an ersatz 

Messi.

But it speaks to the gap that Messi has opened between 

himself and other mortals who consider themselves 

attackers.

Barca can’t wean themselves off Messi by spending €100m, 

€200m or even €400m. The reckoning will come someday but

for now they can console themselves that a) he remains the 

best player in the world and b) he is theirs.

Messi came back into Barcelona training this week having

 suffered the muscle injury on August 5 which meant he 

missed the start of the season. Barca, of course, went down

 in Bilbao without him.

Despite that, he has not proven his fitness enough to face 

Real Betis on Sunday evening. The last time the club failed to 

win either of their opening couple of games was back in 2008-

09, when Pep Guardiola was finding his feet.

With a team containing Messi, Barca should have enough to 

win, no matter what is going on around him. Without him and

 it becomes anyone's game.

Given that Dembele will be absent until well into September 

and Luis Suarez is injured as well, it’s a good thing Messi 

should be back sooner rather than later. This is a Barca team 

badly in need of a boost.

Despite winning the title last season, there was outright

 rancour director towards the coach Ernesto Valverde and 

other board members come the end of the campaign.

They were looking good for a treble at one stage, before a 

meek Champions League semi-final second-leg surrender at

Anfield. Then they contrived to miss out on the Copa del Rey, 

losing in the final to Valencia.

Valverde was reckoned at one stage to be close to losing his

job, but he survived, much to the annoyance to sections of 

the Barca support.

Since then, they have added not only Griezmann but also 

Frenkie de Jong, as well as Neto and Junior Firpo. De Jong 

will provide some much-needed drive through the midfield and

Griezmann should pitch in with a few goals.

But, ultimately, their fate lies with Messi, as it has done for 

most of the other 15 seasons he’s spent at the club, during

 which time he’s been responsible for around 30 per cent of 

Barca’s entire goal output.

They are no closer to diversifying, to weaning themselves off, 

to moving on. Once again it’ll all fall on Messi to keep them in 

the hunt for trophies.