2008-09 Transfer Report Card: How Good Were Barcelona's Signings?

Oh: there is one other change in addition to the ones listed below. Frank Rijkaard sauntered out of the Camp Nou dressing room for the last time; in his place strode the businesslike Pep Guardiola, who has certainly done the business so far.

IN: Martin Caceres (Villarreal); Dani Alves (Sevilla); Henrique (Palmeiras); Aliaksandr Hleb (Arsenal); Seydou Keita (Sevilla); Jose Manuel Pinto (Celta Vigo); Gerard Pique (Manchester United)

OUT: Marc Crosas (Celtic - loan); Deco (Chelsea); Edmilson (Villarreal); Santiago Ezquerro (Osasuna); Giovani Dos Santos (Tottenham Hotspur), Henrique (Bayer Leverkusen - loan); Oleguer Presas (Ajax); Ronaldinho (AC Milan); Lilian Thuram (retired); Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan).

Martin Caceres: D+

The idea was right. Carles Puyol, while rock-solid at the moment, won't be around forever; Rafael Marquez, meanwhile, is beginning to show his age. So, what better than a young-centre-back?

Well, a young centre-back who doesn't cost €16.5m up front, and who will play something resembling a key role, that's what.

Caceres, a smouldering Uruguayan, has been unfortunate with injury, but even during periods of fitness he has hardly impressed. Furthermore he has openly stated that a Barcelona career spent waiting for a chance to come back into the side is not what he wishes to endure in future.

In other words we have an injury-prone, potentially unhappy, and very, very expensive youngster on the bench. Hardly a masterstroke of a signing.

Dani Alves: A

This one, however, is.

Daniel Alves, who failed in his attempt to move to Chelsea last summer, ultimately accepted a move to Barcelona in 2008 in order to test his skills at the next level. OK, he'd already cut his teeth in the Champions League with Sevilla, but Barcelona is truly a higher plane.

Alves has delivered. Flying down the right wing in his trademark style, he is, in my estimation, the finest attacking wing-back in the world. That he plays for a side as forward-looking as Barcelona is simply grist for the mill, rather than a source of worry, for a man whose defensive prowess has been called into question.

In fact Dani is a perfectly reasonable right-back, being strong in the tackle and fast on the chase. It's just that in the attacking sense he goes above and beyond.

Only his mammoth price tag - an inevitable one, admittedly - prevents him from picking up the A+ grade. Otherwise, he is a great signing. Just think of the man he replaced - Gianluca Zambrotta - and ask who you would want in your side.

Aliaksandr Hleb: E

Oh dear.

When Goal.com broke the world exclusive news of Hleb's imminent arrival at Camp Nou, the mood among the fans was one largely of optimism. He was no Ronaldinho, sure, but with a proven track record on the left side of attack for a Premier League giant, what could go wrong?

Well, everything and more. Hleb has done precisely nothing to justify his massive price tag, scarcely making a league appearance and failing to justify his shirt when he does so.

What's more, he's openly entertained the prospect of leaving: hardly the kind of attitude wanted from a man who must earn his place in the team, rather than simply be awarded it.

Why not an F? Well, we know he can be a valuable squad member, as he showed at Arsenal. Barcelona have not signed a player who is a dud. They have merely signed a player who is a dud for them. (Another example: Nikola Zigic at Valencia.) The 27-year-old Belarussian is under contract for three more years with a release clause said to be over €80m in value. He'll leave for nowhere near that, of course, but with Bayern Munich waiting in the wings at least Barcelona can recoup some of the wasted money this summer.

Seydou Keita: B-

The man looked at as the second 'Mr. Dependable', Seydou Keita arrived from Sevilla looking both to compete for Yaya Toure's defensive midfield slot, but also to augment it in the rarely-used 4-4-2 system.

So far his appearances have been limited in the Blaugrana shirt, but Keita has largely repaid the faith shown in him with confident, if largely unspectacular showings.

Still, that's his job, and if he keeps managing the occasional goal, so much the better.

Gerard Pique: C

While certainly providing more value-for-money than Caceres, the jury remains out on a local boy made good.

Pique arrived this summer from Manchester United for a relatively low initial fee, having failed to make the breakthrough at Old Trafford following the coming-of-age of Nemanja Vidic alongside Rio Ferdinand.

At Camp Nou he's been something of a regular fixture, but that may be just as much down to Gabriel Milito's horror injury as it is his own aptitude. His earnestness cannot be denied, but occasionally he gives the impression of a great, loping St. Bernard when a sleek greyhound would do the trick.

Nonetheless he has time on his side and, as his loan spell at Zaragoza proves, he can operate as a defensive midfielder in a pinch.

FINAL GRADE: B-

Ewan Macdonald, Goal.com