Thanks braineclipse, that was sort of my point. If he was rated as highly by Barca as some on here seem to rate him, they wouldn't have sold him.
Not only do they think Suarez is better, but I'd say much better given all the baggage that goes with him plus the difference in age.
Barca are not in the selling promising player business, they are in the constant improvement in team business. So selling Sanchez doesn't fit with their idea of how they can improve.
Still the bar at Barca is obviously a lot higher than at Arsenal. But I don't think they've signed the next big hope like some are saying. They've bought Jose Reyes.
As I've said on the previous page, and like I said in my post I agree with veron's overall point, and I disagree with you.
Barca rate him lower than Suarez, that much is obvious. But Suarez was the best player in the PL last season and arguably one of the top 5 attacking players in the world. Sanchez being worse than him doesn't make him Reyes.
Barca do look for constant improvement, but they've shown themselves willing to sell very good players to get there. A huge portion of their philosophy is to give chances to their academy players, that means not keeping high value players like Sanzhez as squad players. I disagreed with the specific examples mentioned by veron, but better examples are available. They've just sold Fabregas, clearly rated very highly by most PL fans, other players like Ibrahimovic, Eto'o and Yaya Toure can also be mentioned. All (imo) excellent players, not all sold for the same reasons as Sanchez, but all sold by Barca and not just because the player wanted away or a massive offer was received.
Like I also said on the previous page, Barca also sell players partly because they don't fit their rather specific style of play. Sanchez is a very good player that wasn't a great fit at Barcelona. He's a great dribbler, has tons of pace and scores goals, but perhaps not perfect for the intricate quick passing style with other players like Messi, Iniesta and later Neymar as the main attacking threats and Sanchez playing a more peripheral role.
I think he will do really well at Arsenal, he's a lot better than Reyes ever was, has proven himself both in Italy and for Chile in addition to being good in La Liga. He's a pretty solid upgrade on most of the attacking players at Arsenal. He might need some time to adjust, but it's a very good signing - just like it would have been a couple of years ago if he had been signed directly from Italy.
