Barça Femení won the Supercopa, but could lose their purest defensive midfielders

This morning, the Blaugranagram team was planning its women’s transfer news update: no news on incoming, but sources reporting that communication with Walsh was tough and Engen’s renewal was suddenly “more difficult”. The evening brought more confirmation to the interpersonal tensions that have been speculated on all month.

At the start of January, we reported that Barcelona wanted movement or clarity on the progress of its three priority renewals: Keira Walsh, Ingrid Syrstad Engen, and Irene Paredes. In terms of these, Barcelona’s management are currently focused on Paredes, as this negotiation has proven the most simple.

Sources tell Blaugranagram that, for the desired clarity, Walsh’s team confirmed to Barcelona that she wanted to leave at or before the end of the season. The transparency on her side has been consistent, and was initially appreciated. But when the information came to Blaugranagram that discussion between the two camps had become minimal, it did so with the speculation that the club was unhappy and that this was affecting how they worked with Walsh.

On Barcelona’s side, they have been trying to convince Walsh to renew – it would be a blow to hear that she still wasn’t considering it. But if this has had an impact outside of contract talk, on how sports staff communicate (or don’t) with the player, it could hasten an exit. From English sources, there have been hints that clubs would like for Walsh to be available in January, as there is more security in buying a player than letting them become a free agent and choosing. Though there are only two bidders, Arsenal and Chelsea are both desperate for her signature, with the former boasting high attendances and popularity, and the latter a superior sporting project.

Barcelona’s outward unhappiness may also have come because they had put too many eggs in one basket, so to speak, focusing on convincing Walsh to renew while leaving Engen to stay sidelined on the pitch and out of the loop in team planning. Without communicating to Engen if she would be part of future plans, her team would naturally seek out security and listen to other offers.

Has Barcelona Femení’s renewal negotiation strategy been an almighty screw-up?

Mundo Deportivo reported this evening that both Walsh and Engen have asked to leave the club in January, with offers from major European rivals in Chelsea and Lyon, respectively. Barcelona losing their presence in the Champions League would be a major blow.

In last season’s Champions League, only three players started every single match: Aitana Bonmatí, and Engen and Walsh. The pair, without dropping their level, have been utilised far less this season. Tactically, and with a fully-fit Alexia Putellas at his disposal, Pere Romeu has preferred a more attack-minded midfield – a ‘return to service’ for domestic competition. This system change can’t explain why the pair, whose positional defending is unique at Barcelona and a significant strength against more creative attacks from foreign teams, have been taking on less minutes in European competition, though.

It certainly doesn’t explain why Engen was completely left out of the Supercopa, and Walsh dropped then misused. The Supercopa, though Barcelona faced two ‘Clásicos’ in it this year, is generally seen as the least taxing national-level cup for Barça Femení. It’s an opportunity to use players who haven’t had many minutes, and the starting squad typically remains unchanged unless necessary.

Of all the first team outfield players, Engen was the only one who didn’t get on the pitch at all during the Supercopa. Walsh, who had a fantastic game in the semi-final against Atlético Madrid, was benched for the final against Real Madrid and then, despite being the first substitute to start warming up, only played six minutes. Is it possible that they had both communicated their plans to leave by the final, and the squad lists were punitive? This sounds unlikely, but the logical alternative isn’t much kinder on Barcelona’s part.

We’re told that Walsh’s current contract stipulates that she should feature in a certain percentage of all matches she is available for, while Engen’s contract doesn’t. Bearing this in mind, Engen’s total exclusion and Walsh’s demotion to worthless final cameo, without any sporting or resting or rotation explanation that would make sense for either, could indicate that Barcelona don’t want the players and will use them as little as they contractually can. Whether this is true or not, both players could rightfully feel that way. And if they did and hadn’t already asked to leave, perceiving this kind of disrespect from the club could certainly be the final push.

So Barcelona did the inevitable and picked up the Supercopa trophy, because what’s one more piece of silverware from the RFEF. But in how they did so, they could have lost two things far more valuable.

The apparent changing relationship with Pere Romeu might be a more long-simmering factor in Walsh and Engen feeling pushed out of Barcelona. Before he became head coach, Romeu was close to many of the players, even closer with the defensive midfielders (of which he was one, once), and on very good terms with Walsh (among others) in particular. They even posed together with her first trophy for the club, ironically the Supercopa. It is rumoured that Walsh and Engen have been unsatisfied with how Romeu has explained sporting decisions to them, something that seems more significant considering they are two of the players who supposedly understood his analysis and tactics best.

If communication has broken down, apparently coming from Barcelona’s side not adequately keeping players in the know on sporting plans, two players who otherwise were happy within the Barcelona environment have been given a push factor. Add to that the pulls from outside – Walsh’s personal reasons to be in England known from the start, and Engen being next on Lyon’s lucrative target list after losing out on Naomi Girma – and Barcelona could be in a dangerous position, should they allow the players to leave, facing down the toughest part of the season without any top-level depth at pivot or centre-back.

In that scenario, Barça’s only comfort would be the almost guaranteed major payday in store for them from selling two world class players, enough to hopefully pad the squad out by the end of next week.