With just two nominees, this award was always going to be a close-run thing. Just who was the best signing of the 2011/12 season? Was it Cesc Fàbregas, or was it Alexis Sanchez? With just 8% separating the two men at the end of the voting, it seemed the community was roughly split down the middle, which can only be a good thing. With both players performing admirably over the course of the season, it goes to show that for all the criticism Sandro Rosell receives, his tenure has been hugely successful in terms of transfers. Anyway, without further ado, the best signing of 2011/12 as voted for by you, the Barca Blaugranes community is...
1st – Cesc Fàbregas – 54%
Remember that? Fàbregas had perhaps the most action-packed debut of any recent Barcelona signing, despite coming on with less than 10 minutes remaining. In those ten minutes he was involved in the winning goal, a Marcelo sending off and therefore was indirectly responsible for a giant brawl which culminated in Jose Mourinho’s infamous eye-poke on Tito Vilanova. Oh, and in those ten minutes he won more trophies than in his previous six years at Arsenal.
From there on in, Cesc continued to make an impact, scoring in the European Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup final and in El Clasico. These goals were just three of 15 – his second-best tally for a season – and he also contributed 20 assists – also the second-highest tally of his career. Not bad for a bench-warmer!
2nd – Alexis Sanchez – 46%
Alexis didn’t have as eventful a debut as Cesc, but over the course of the season he proved himself to be a valuable part of the Barcelona attack with his pace, (relative) strength and tenacity. Sanchez’ early Barcelona career was marred by injury problems, although in the few occasions he stayed fit he showed glimpses of his enormous potential. With the injury to David Villa and Pedro’s combination of injury and loss of form, Sanchez established himself as a first choice in the Blaugrana front-line and rightly so.