For several seasons, FC Barcelona hired some players who arrived with the star poster, and who were currently a disappointment. Some are about to leave the club and others have already left through the false door. For example, this Friday, January 7, it was confirmed that Philippe Coutinho will be loaned to Aston Villa.
With the departure of the Brazilian, it is inevitable to think of several footballers who make up the squad led by Xavi Hernández who so far have not managed to triumph with the culé shirt. They have even been the target of criticism from Barça fans, since they do not justify the money invested in them.
With the departure of Messi, it was expected that several would obtain more prominence for this season, but today they contribute little to FC Barcelona, a team that was eliminated from the Champions League and is far from the fight for the LaLiga title. Here we do a count of who these players are.
As mentioned above, Philippe Coutinho, after several attempts by the FC Barcelona board, was transferred to another team. The Brazilian footballer will return to play in the Premier League and will be part of Aston Villa until the end of the 2021-2022 season.
It comes as a loan. At the age of 29, he left Catalonia for the second time. In 2019-2020 he was loaned to Bayern Munich. He came as a replacement for Andrés Iniesta, but was never able to earn a starting position. In addition, it became the most expensive signing in the history of ‘Barza’ with 120 million euros.
With the shirt of the blaugranas, he played a total of 106 games and scored 26 goals.
The Frenchman Samuel Umtiti was another of the great acquisitions of FC Barcelona. His arrival in mid-2016 in exchange for 25 million euros excited everyone to become a pillar of defense. However, with the passing of the seasons, the footballer has had very little activity in the starting eleven.
His low performance and his poor statistics make the Catalans want to sell him at any cost, although his little activity is the main problem for there to be clubs interested in the defender. In the recent season, he barely accumulates 90 minutes of play and is not taken into account by Xavi Hernández.
In mid-2021, FC Barcelona looked for a way out for Umtiti. In the end, as reported by Sport, the player asked to stay to fight for the position. Joan Laporta, Blaugrana’s highest authority, gave him only six months so that he could fulfill that objective. And the time allotted already expired in January.
With contract until 2023, the Spanish press reports that Besiktas consulted about the player and that Newcastle could sign him.
The signing that disappointed the most and that ended up going very badly. FC Barcelona has been going through a strong economic crisis for several months, and to alleviate the wage bill, it had to finalize the departure of Antoine Griezmann in mid-2021, who finally returned to Atlético Madrid.
The ‘Little Prince’ was a last minute signing and ended up leaving on loan to the colchoneros with purchase option for about 40 million euros. Without a doubt, a bad investment by the Catalans, because the Frenchman was signed at the time for more than 120 million euros.
In three seasons with FC Barcelona, he played 102 games, scored 35 goals and gave 15 assists.
Ousmane Dembélé is another problem that the FC Barcelona board of directors wants to solve in the current winter transfer market in Europe. The Frenchman ends his contract in mid-2022. His signing is at the same level of disappointment as that of his compatriot Griezmann.
The difference is that Dembélé has been a footballer who shone more for his injuries than for his performances on the playing field. This season he has only nine games played, one goal and two assists.
The balance sheet in the almost six years he has been at FC Barcelona is having participated in only 127 games, 78 of them as a starter, scored 31 goals and gave 22 assists. His numbers are very low, and he is one of the footballers most criticized by fans. What’s more, It was the second most expensive signing that the Catalans made: they paid 105 million euros for his pass. Another bad investment.
Regarding his future, the ‘Barza’ sent him a renewal offer, but the footballer has not responded, since he would not meet his expectations. Diario Marca points out that if the Frenchman does not renew, the Blaugrana directive would ‘freeze’ him.
“The club will take the toughest measure and that is that he does not play with the team again,” they published.
Source-larepublica.pe