The transfer saga of Ilaix Moriba is finally ending, which is good news for every party involved. As the staring contest between the player, his agents, and FC Barcelona carried on for the last few weeks, it was apparent to everyone, including fans, that getting something finalized this summer was best for all.
For the player, he will need to salvage his reputation a bit. After a stand-off with Barça just prior to turning 16 and signing his first professional contract, which turned out to be the largest in academy history, Ilaix now has a “history” of wanting unprecedented amounts of money based on his age and experience. A sour relationship with short-lived U19 manager and club legend Victor Valdes didn’t do any favors for the PR of player or coach either.
In true Culers fashion though, the worst of the fan base took out their Messi-related frustrations on the 18-year-old, peppering him with racist insults and labeling him as ungrateful and greedy. Those last two accusations can be somewhat true without being a bigoted commentary about his race. He was given a role with the first team at 18 and was already accommodated with the biggest La Masia contract ever. It looked like the world was his oyster and Ronald Koeman was going to use him. With so few players breaking into the first team from the academy over the last seven years, Moriba was looking like one of the best examples of how times may be changing.
Barça and Laporta could have handled the situation better, even if they got the second best desired result next to him renewing. Instead of putting him in the stands for a year, something unheard of with a teenager who could being playing youth football instead, they were able to get between €15m/€20m for him plus 10% of any future sale. They deserve credit for getting that deal after publicly making an example out of the player.
When the dust does settle, the true “villains” in this story will be his faceless agents, who come off as the greediest and most cutthroat of anyone involved. After the debacle surrounding another one of their clients, Max Meyer, and his journey from Schalke and a potential large contract to looking for scraps at Crystal Palace and Koln, it’s hard to trust that they are looking out for the best interest of both the player’s football life and his financial one. Kudos to them for securing the latter, despite complicating the former.
The tough pill for Culers to swallow is the one where this move works out for Ilaix. The percentage of any future sale will make that pill easier to handle, but he could be playing for a rival in a few years as fans are left to wonder what-if. RB Leipzig did manage a second place finish in the Bundesliga last season, but the Bavarians gutted them for their manager, best centre-back, and longest-tenured midfielder, so they may not be the long-term destination. There is a possibility that he can make an impact on a team that is close to the top at the moment, but that NEXT big payday will come in a few seasons to one of the financial elites.
For now, Ilaix Moriba has a long way to go before he gets there. Yet, RB Leipzig has shown a willingness to develop talent and sell them on for a profit. In the current squad, Josko Gvardiol, Dani Olmo, Nordi Mukiele, Brian Brobbey, Dominik Szoboszlai, Christopher Nkunku, Tyler Adams, and Amadou Haidara are all 23 or younger. In lieu of the young midfield competition at Barça, it’ll be interesting to see how he compares to Adams and Haidara, who both play a very similar position with comparable styles.
I’ll say what I say to all La Masia players. Best of luck and I hope to see you back at the club one day in the future. In the case of Ilaix though, I only want to see him return with a different agent. It wasn’t pretty, but it’s odd to consider that both Ilaix Moriba and FC Barcelona came out of this transfer with something close to what they wanted.
Dan Hilton is an American journalist, broadcaster, and current Editor-in-Chief of BarcaBlog. Extensive work as a play-by-play broadcaster, producer behind the scenes, and quite average player in his younger years has given him a well-rounded and informative perspective on the sport. Alongside BarcaBlog founder Francesc, Dan started The Barcelona Podcast in 2017
