Three reasons why Barcelona should join Ligue 1 in case of Catalan independence

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Catalonia’s regional parliament just announced its unilateral independence and this poses some major questions for Barcelona as a club and its future with La Liga.

A few weeks ago, Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, confirmed that in case of independence, Catalan clubs will not be able to play in Spain:

“If the process advances, and we hope it doesn’t, Catalan clubs won’t be able play in La Liga. If there is a unilateral process, and if they leave the EU, Catalan clubs won’t be able to play in La Liga.”

Source | Sport

With that in mind, here are three reasons why Barcelona should join the French league if and when the need arises!

1. GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION

Catalonia is on the north-east corner of Spain and shares a border with France. Locationally speaking, this is incredibly convenient for Barcelona (since it does not affect the travel schedule too much) in contrast to playing further north in England.

Map by Evan Centanni, based on this map by Mutxamel. License: CC BY-SA

With so much drama surrounding La Liga’s stance towards Catalan clubs, it would be a wise decision to go to a league that has previously invited Barcelona to join and compete. Monaco is another example of a club which is a sovereign city-state on the French Riviera proving that the Ligue 1’s invitation is genuine.

2. FRENCH TALENT EVERYWHERE

Barcelona has always given priority to La Masia and from the looks of it, French football is the hottest hub for scouting young, talented prospects at the moment. Experiencing their golden generation of stars, Ligue 1 has become a conveyor belt for producing world-class talents.

Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

Ousmane Dembele, Samuel Umtiti and Lucas Digne are some fine French talents already on the roster and with time, that number is looking very likely to increase.

The club are reportedly scouting French centre-backs Dan-Axel Zagadou (18) of Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano (19) which only strengthens the French connection.

Moving to Ligue 1 would be a golden chance for Barcelona to snap up some generational talents while avoiding ridiculous fees like the one they paid for Dembele.

3. FORMIDABLE OPPONENTS AND FAIR PLAY

Taking away all the conspiracy theories, it is pretty safe to say that there has been some amount of bias against Barcelona when it comes to refereeing decisions in La Liga.

There have been major incidents like when an official stepped forward to admit pressure from higher-ups only for those reports to be swiftly brushed away. Moving to Ligue 1 will ensure that any refereeing mishaps are purely coincidental.

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images

Also, in PSG and Monaco, Barcelona have some formidable opponents to compete against. Losing Neymar to PSG in the summer has already burnt the bridges between Barcelona and Paris—there is no love lost between the two clubs.

Besides, as a fan, I have to admit that moving to Neymar’s new league and denying him the spotlight is an idea too sweet to resist.

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