Barcelona are not only having to face competition for players from the Premier League these days, but also for the people negotiating for them.
According to Marca (via Sport), Director of Football Mateu Alemany has turned down an offer from Premier League side Aston Villa. Their offer was to double his salary and bring about an ambitious project being headed by Unai Emery, with plentiful resources to work with.
That would be the opposite of what Alemany is currently working with, where he must squeeze the most out of every cent in Catalonia, as Barcelona try to fit into their salary limit for next season. However Alemany has turned that offer down.
Losing Alemany would have been a major blow for Barcelona. While his football-based input is lesser at Barcelona, the Mallorca native is in charge when it comes to negotiating deals and working out the numbers. Regarded as one of the best in the business, and losing him would be a major blow to the Blaugrana. Ahead of more austerity, losing an asset like Alemany is not an option for Barcelona.
Just use a 442 formation to balance the midfild