As mentioned over at La Liga Talk, it was announced that Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard will be leaving Barcelona at the end of this season. After two dominant seasons and a subsequent two seasons without trophies, combined with the 4-1 loss to Real Madrid (Sid Lowe wrote an excellent piece on the match in his Guardian blog), Barcelona has opted to terminate his contract. Rijkaard took charge of Barcelona in 2003 and led them to back-to-back league titles and victory over Arsenal in the Champions League final in Paris in 2006.

In announcing the termination, club president Joan Laporta made it clear that Rijkaard’s assistants Johan Neeskens and former player Eusebio would also be leaving the club.

Fans and management of the club were disappointed by the inconsistency shown this season — the football on display was at times beautiful but far too often was also beastly and lacklustre. Fans and management were also not happy with the club’s exit from the Champions League at the hands of Manchester United. The irony of Barcelona’s defeat was that although they played the more attractive football for much of the tie against United, it was their lack of fire-power up front that ended up sealing their fate. Sporting director Txiki Begiristain told Barca TV that if the club “had got to Moscow almost nothing would have changed.”

There have been conflicting reports coming out of the Barcelona camp all season whether the club have used injuries to hide the fact that a number of players have been sidelined for indiscipline.The president of Barcelona’s economic commission, Xavier Sala Martin, said the club had used injuries as a way of camouflaging disciplinary action against certain players.

“Look at these gentlemen who aren’t working, who aren’t doing anything, who haven’t played for quite a few weeks. Well, they were sidelined by the club some weeks ago,” Sala Martin told Catalunya Radio.  “Although we are disguising things by saying there are injuries and all that, these gentlemen have been sidelined and they are trying to isolate them from the rest of the squad.” Martin is not part of the board of directors but his position as the head of the economic commission means that he takes charge of the club during a presidential election as he did in 2006.

Txiki Begiristain contradicted that claim in an interview with Canal Plus television during halftime of Barcelona’s 1-0 Champions League win over Schalke 04 at the Nou Camp. Begiristain said that players who were absent had legitimate medical reasons for not being in the lineup and that no players were being disciplined by disguised methods.

So, what will happen at Barcelona over the summer? We can expect some player movement as new boss and former Barcelona captain Pep Guardiola takes over. Guardiola, who was a key member of Johan Cruyff’s so-called “Dream Team” which won four consecutive league titles between 1991 and 1994 and the European Cup in 1992, has been the coach of Barcelona’s B side last June and has steered the team to the top of their group in Spain’s regionally-based tercera (fourth tier) division.

Ronaldinho was plagued by fitness problems resulting in a mysterious succession of injuries. There were also rumours that a lack of motivation led to the former World Player of the Year being a non-factor in Barcelona’s season.

Ronaldinho seems certain to move summer though Laporta has stated that Ronaldinho will not be sold for less than 40 millions euros. He may be joined on the discard list by midfielder Deco, defenders Sylvinho, Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram and striker Thierry Henry.

At the start of the season with the arrival of Henry from Arsenal, the talk had been of a “fantastic four” in an attack comprising the French striker, Samuel Eto’o, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho. The reality has been very different, however, and Barca’s season stalled because of their inability to score goals in key matches. Unsettled by personal problems and struggling to adapt to a new position on the left flank, Henry has failed to live up to his billing in his first season at the Nou Camp.

Both Eto’o and Messi saw their seasons hampered by injury and Eto’o was absent for the African Nations Cup. Many feel that the Cameroon striker lacks the spark and predatory instinct that made him such an effective player two seasons ago but I think perhaps a change of scenery is all that is needed to revive his form. Messi was Barca’s most dangerous player when healthy though he often looked to be fighting a lone battle up front.

All is not gloom and doom at the club though. Some bright spots that come to mind immediately are the emergence of Bojan Krkic, but the 17-year-old is not quite the finished product yet. Yaya Toure showed in his first season with Barcelona that he is capable of holding and protecting the ball in midfield which frees Xavi to be more creative. Xavi also had another good season for Barcelona. Josep Guardiola will be happy to have two deep laying playmakers like Yaya and Xavi to build his side around.

Barca will also be able to rely on Víctor Valdés in goal as he had another solid season and at age 26, he has many good years ahead of him. Rumours are saying that he is no longer an “untouchable” but I don’t think Barcelona will cast him aside so swiftly. In addition to the players likely to move on, Gabriel Milito recently had to undergo major knee surgery and will be out for about 6 months and thus Barcelona need a couple of signings at the back to add depth.

It will be an important summer for the Blaugranes and I’ll be keeping an eye on the goings on at Camp Nou. My transfer list would shape up like this:

Out:
1) Deco
2) Sylvinho
3) Thuram
4) Thierry Henry

In:
1) Daniel Alves
2) Diego
3) Adriano
4) Phillip Lahm
5) Karim Benzema

I would keep Ronaldinho and try to get him back to his best. I don’t know what’s wrong but I’d be very remiss to part with someone with talent beyond 99% of the other footballers out there.

Adriano is a bit of a gamble but if he can get his mind right he is still a dangerous forward and a physical presence up front that Barcelona lack. Adriano has been playing well for Sao Paulo helping them reach the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals. Lahm and Alves would give Barcelona a deadly one-two punch on the flanks allowing them to press the play wide on either side as they chose. The fullback support this season was not sufficient this season for an attacking team like Barcelona. It is unlikely that an incoming manager would be able to institute a system other than one in which attractive football was the focus so more attack-minded players are of essence.

If you were the new manager of Barcelona, who would you try to sign? Who would you cut loose?