1 FC Barcelona want Luis Suarez to join Ivan Rakitic at the Camp Nou, judging by today's activity

Of all the shirts available to him at Barcelona, Ivan Rakitic chose the number four. That’s a pretty bold move, not only because a certain Pep Guardiola happened to make it his own as a player, but also because the last two midfielders to wear it – Thiago Alcantara and Cesc Fabregas – have subsequently left the club in less than ideal circumstances. The unveiling of the Croatian at the Camp Nou marks the opening of a key week in the major rebuilding going on at the club, with one more signing due to be presented in less than seven days, another likely to follow soon, and a certain Uruguayan on everyone’s lips…

Barcelona’s early ‘signings’ of the summer didn’t exactly blow away the general public. While the return of loanees Gerard Deulofeu and Rafinha Alcantara was welcomed by socis (club members), the Catalan side’s crafty attempts at packaging them up as new players – complete with shiny staged photos of the two in their ‘new’ kits at the Camp Nou – produced a somewhat flat response at best. The first genuinely new addition to the Barca ranks meanwhile, goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, has been the worst-kept secret in Catalonia for over a year now. A potentially intelligent transfer and smart bit of business he may be, but it didn’t exactly set pulses racing.

With Rakitic’s arrival, things are slowly starting to kick up a gear. Only a relatively small number of onlookers turned up to watch his unveiling at the Camp Nou on Tuesday morning, but by bringing in a player recently voted Man of the Match in the Europa League final – and one generally held in high esteem across Europe – Barcelona can boast of snapping up someone with genuine star quality for the first time in a number of years.

Not enough star quality for Rakitic to dominate the front cover of today’s Mundo Deportivo, mind you. With Rakitic relegated to a token box at the top of the page, the honour was handed to Luis Suarez, whose face is appearing on the front of the Catalan paper so frequently these days they may as well stick with one stock picture of the Uruguayan as a template and alter the headline as required. In bold, white letters, the word ‘Sorry’ sat above an image of a pensive looking Suarez in Tuesday’s edition, and curiously enough, that very apology proved to be the real talking point at a press conference held at the Camp Nou on Tuesday lunchtime. A press conference that was supposed to be for journalists to ask questions about Barcelona’s new number four.

These kind of press events, where the gathered media repeatedly ask about another unrelated player while the one the conference is supposed to be focused on shuffles awkwardly in his seat are becoming something of a feature at Barcelona. Only a few weeks ago, Ter Stegen’s moment in the spotlight was dominated by questions about Xavi’s future, and so it was today that journalists somewhat bafflingly pressed Ivan Rakitic for his opinion on Luis Suarez.

The usual vague footballer answers about a fellow player’s quality followed, but sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta’s statements were far more interesting. While the Basque made an effort to let everyone know that Suarez is a Liverpool player and as such shouldn’t be commented on, he then went on to provide a surprisingly detailed analysis of the Uruguayan. Having the humility to apologise for that biting incident was the first step on the road to recovery for Suarez, Zubizarreta noted. Anyone who has watched him at Liverpool over the last year knows he can play in wider positions and not only the middle, he then added. Short of ‘nudge nudge, wink wink’, it couldn’t have been any less subtle.

Only a few days ago, journalists in the Catalan press with a reputation for accuracy reported that Barcelona had demanded Suarez make a public apology before they could push forward in a move to sign him. Yesterday, Luis Suarez did indeed apologise. Today, the man in charge of signing players at Barcelona has commented on that apology, as well as his versatility (and by extension ability to fit in to the same forward line as Lionel Messi). All a coincidence? I’ll let you decide.

How this soap opera will progress no one yet knows, but if previous summers in the Catalan capital are anything to go by, it’s likely to be long, messy, and very, very, repetitive. Less messy was the deal Barcelona completed for Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, announced on June 25. The experienced stopper is likely to compete with Ter Stegen for the number one jersey at the Camp Nou in the coming months, and will be presented in front of the media in less than a week. Expect more questions about Luis Suarez, naturally.

Two goalkeepers, a midfielder, and possibly even a new striker. Sound good? Well, sort of, except Barcelona still haven’t dealt with that minor issue of bringing in a new centre back. After missing out on Thiago Silva two years ago, and dodging a bullet with David Luiz this summer, the club’s mythical ‘list’ of defensive targets is growing shorter by the minute. Zubizarreta needs to act quickly before he’s left with Gary Caldwell, or worse yet, his brother Steven as the only options.

Fortunately for supporters, Barcelona may not have to resort to reuniting George Burley’s dream central defensive pairing just yet, if reports in Valencia are anything to go by. France international and Valencia stalwart Jeremy Mathieu has long been a Barca target, and after meeting the key Blaugrana requirement of playing at centre back despite not actually being a centre back, his stock has grown greater. Valencian daily Superdeporte have twice documented meetings between Mathieu and members of the Valencia hierarchy over the last week, with the Frenchman said to be pushing his club towards negotiating a move to the Camp Nou. Los Che will hold out for a decent price as they always do, but in any case it finally looks like Barcelona will get the centre-back-who-isn’t-really-a-centre-back that they so desperately want. The ironic thing is that after Carles Puyol’s retirement, they now need to sign two.

The aforementioned list of incoming players is only half of the story in the Catalan capital this summer, with just as many names likely to leave. Along with Carles Puyol’s decision to stop playing and the sale of Cesc Fabregas to Chelsea, Jose Manuel Pinto and Victor Valdes are now no longer on Barca’s books. Of the players set to follow them, Alex Song is at the top of the list, though his comical red card at the World Cup probably hasn’t helped matters, while Xavi Hernandez is either definitely leaving or possibly not depending on which one of his ‘confidants’ in the local media you read. Regardless of the exact numbers, what is certain is that this summer will be the biggest in terms of transfer activity at the Camp Nou for a number of years now, which begs the question: wouldn’t it have made more sense to do this gradually than have to replace half of the team at once? Unfortunately, foresight is a rare commodity in Barcelona these days. Unless you happen to be Neymar’s dad, whose business sense is excellent, I’m told.