Deadline day drama for Barça Femení

The Walsh saga finally found its conclusion – but couldn’t resist a last-minute cliffhanger – while Engen stayed out of the limelight and meetings on the English and Spanish women’s transfer deadline days.

Thursday at 11pm (midnight CET) was the English Women’s Super League transfer deadline, and so Keira Walsh’s now-confirmed transfer had to take priority.

Overnight on Wednesday, Barcelona had decided to accept Chelsea’s oversized last offer for Walsh and so on Thursday she was excused from training and departed to London. Medical complete and negotiations between the clubs and player were conducted professionally – as Blaugranagram previously reported and has since been corroborated elsewhere, some staff at Barça Femení were not happy with Walsh still wanting to leave.

Once the decision was made, however, there was no point in protest and talks went well. The deal was signed, ready for a welcome video to be filmed, four hours before the deadline. It just needed to pass through FIFA, who handle all international transfers; to do so, the federations in charge of both the buying and selling clubs need to submit approval paperwork.

Therein was the real issue: the Spanish football federation (RFEF) had shut its offices earlier on Thursday. Sources told Blaugranagram that while there were staff to join the last stretch and be aware of the transfer details, the RFEF was unaware of the WSL transfer deadline and so had not been prepared to handle this. According to The Guardian, both clubs made their displeasure with the RFEF known.

Adjudication, to confirm that the transfer had gone through in time, was then handed off to a FIFA team in Miami for their Friday working day. This would be why the deal was only given an official announcement at just after 8pm CET on Friday, signalled first by Walsh’s farewell to Barça post, then by a Chelsea welcome video, and then by a warm goodbye from Barcelona.

Friday, which was Liga F deadline day. Sources told Blaugranagram that Ingrid Syrstad Engen, who had also requested to leave Barcelona, was not present at a certain meeting on Friday and so had not renewed with the club. At this point, discussions were ongoing surrounding a potential transfer to Lyon. However, the fee offered was not considered high enough for Barça.

Whether Barcelona was considering selling Engen before Walsh left, and then valued Engen somewhat higher as potential depth in that position, or not, they are potentially in a similar position with her now as they were with Walsh in September. The main difference, however, is that Engen’s reasons for wanting to leave seem to be her lack of playing time and no real explanation for this, while Walsh had reported “personal reasons” drawing her to England specifically.

A genuine desire to leave is harder to overcome in management negotiations than a player having sporting concerns at the club that can be addressed. This may be why Marc Vivés felt more comfortable once again denying a requested transfer, perhaps on an understanding that sporting communication with Engen will be improved, if not her playing time.

Engen’s lack of renewal on Friday and no new offer since the (implicitly denied) one at the start of January, however, suggest she could be set to leave for free at the end of the season. How the club manages the tougher half of the season with her could make all the difference in persuading her over the next few months to stay.

Initial indications aren’t the most positive on that front, however: before Walsh’s transfer was even officially announced, Barcelona Femení had registered B team midfielder Emilia Szymczak (who can also play as a center-back) in la Liga F. As Blaugranagram previously wrote, Barcelona would not seek a true replacement for Walsh – something nigh-impossible to find and also unnecessary since Pere Romeu has clearly established the return to a ‘default’ of Patri Guijarro in the deep midfield position – and so a player like Szymczak could be elevated to effectively serve as Patri’s apprentice.

If this is Romeu’s forward plan, now that he has the option of giving Szymczak regular Liga F minutes, then Engen will not be picking up the defensive midfield game time that would’ve been Walsh’s for the rest of the season and will have to hold out for the upcoming busy period to play as a rotation option somewhere in the defensive line.

Perhaps like Rachel Daly for the Lionesses, Engen’s versatility is her downfall, despite being Barça’s saving grace last season. Patri is a more established defensive midfielder, as was Walsh and as could be Szymczak for Barcelona; Mapi León and Irene Paredes and even Marta Torrejón are more established center-backs. Romeu tried Engen at right-back earlier in the season: she was not at her best, but performed well enough. However, Jana Fernàndez now has primacy in that position as she showed more promise in converting from a central defender to a wide one, pushing Engen further down the list of options for that experimental role.

She was one of the best midfielders in Europe while at Wolfsburg, but never totally took to the more specific role at Barcelona; she persevered and put her defensive attributes to fantastic use. It would be in Barça’s interest to find a way to get Engen to renew, as in the not-too-distant future the club will be saying its goodbyes to Torrejón and Paredes – it would also be ideal to give Engen solid playing time, so her form stays where Barcelona needs it until then.