First they tried to bring back Lionel Messi, then they did bring back Dani Alves, briefly. Rafa Márquez returned to take over the B team, Xavi Hernández came home, this time as coach, and Deco arrived again, the former midfielder turned sporting director. They attempted to get Carles Puyol to join them. And now Joan Laporta, the president who also came back, re-elected to the post 17 years after he first ran for it and a decade after he had departed, wants Edgar Davids to return to FC Barcelona.
Well, an Edgar Davids, anyway. And, yes, that was exactly how the president put it. At 50, it might be a bit late to stick the actual Davids in the middle of midfield, but on the eve of their last competitive game before Christmas, 24 hours before they then flew to Dallas for a friendly in return for €5m (£4.3m) they desperately need, Laporta announced that the signing Barcelona wanted was someone just like the Dutchman. The reference was understood immediately by everyone even after almost 20 years, his name a byword for a winter transfer that works, a catalyst for change.
