Barcelona have struggled to establish their foothold in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League this season and have been over-reliant on their talismanic forward – Lionel Messi – to bail them out of tricky situations.
Their summer recruitment of 6 first-teamers for a combined total in excess of €120m has failed to provide them with the squad depth or the required quality that one would expect of a club of Barcelona’s stature.
Out of the 6, only Denis Suarez, Samuel Umtiti, Andre Gomes and Lucas Digne have had some positive impact on the club while the rest have failed to live up to their expectations – although one might argue that only 8 months into their Barcelona career it is too soon to pass a judgement on their impact on the club.
Anyways, with Luis Enrique’s future in doubt, it can safely be said that a few of Barcelona stars – including the new recruits – will be heading out of the club in the summer. Let’s take a look at 5 such players who have no future at the club:
#1 Jeremy Mathieu
Mathieu signed for Barcelona from Valencia in 2014 for €20m – and his transfer raised a few eyebrows given the age of the former French international and the transfer fee that the Catalan club parted with. This season he has been plagued by injuries and at 33 he is not getting any younger.
Barcelona got what they wanted out of a 30-year-old French defender, they got three good years of football out of him and he served them well during the time he spent on the pitch, helping them win numerous trophies. Mathieu has run his race with Barcelona and his recent injury – sprained ankle ligaments – which he sustained during the 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid look to be the final nail in the coffin of the 33-year-old’s Camp Nou career.
Barcelona are yet to disclose the extent of Mathieu’s injury but even if he does get fit in time to play again this season, it will probably be the last of what Barcelona fans see of the Frenchman.
#2 Aleix Vidal
The Spaniard was signed by the Camp Nou outfit from Sevilla – along with Atletico Madrid’s Arda Turan – during their transfer ban of 2015 and hence he could not play for the club for the first 6 months of his time at Barcelona. The 27-year-old was seen as the replacement for Dani Alves – who was in his 30s – and was rumoured to be close to an exit from the club.
Alves did leave the club last summer on a free – joining Juventus – but that hasn’t seen an upturn in fortune for the €18m signing from Sevilla. Vidal has played second fiddle to Sergi Roberto this term – the midfielder who Luis Enrique prefers over the full-back on the right of his 4-man defence.
The Spaniard is currently recovering from an ankle injury suffered in Barcelona’s 6-0 win over Deportivo Alaves, which has ruled him out for the rest of the season and it looks unlikely that Vidal will play again the Catalan giants – having featured only 25 times during his spell with the Blaugrana. A rather sad ending for a footballer, who gave up 6 months of his career to play for Barcelona.
#3 Ivan Rakitic
Sevilla are like the hunting ground for Barcelona, whenever they feel they are short of quality at a certain position they raid the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan outfit to fill these holes in the squad. Ivan Rakitic is one of those signings. After a stellar season with Sevilla, Rakitic was snapped up by Barcelona in 2014 to replace the outgoing Cesc Fabregas.
The Croatian midfielder played a pivotal part in Barcelona’s treble triumph in his maiden season at the club – helping them win the UEFA Champions League, La Liga and the Copa del Rey. He then again played a leading role the next season as he helped Barcelona win 4 trophies during the 2015/16 season including – La Liga, UEFA Super Cup, Copa del Rey and the Club World Championship.
However, following a poor start to the current season coupled with the summer arrivals of Andre Gomes and Denis Suarez – who play in the same position as him – Rakitic has seen his stock fall and has spent more and more time on the bench. The 28-year-old has completed 90 minutes of a game on only 14 occasions out of the 34 games that he has featured in for Luis Enrique’s side.
The Croatian’s Camp Nou adventure looks to be over and is one of the stars who will certainly be allowed to let go in the summer to free up the funds for new recruitements.
#4 Arda Turan
Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan both gave up 6 months of their career to play for Barcelona. But unlike Vidal, the Turk has played a slightly more significant role at the club which can be seen with his stats for the Camp Nou outfit, which reads something like – 52 starts, 15 goals and 10 assists. The numbers look good when you look them in isolation but when you compare that to those of Neymar or Messi, it puts things into perspective.
Still not convinced, well give me one more shot. Ivan Rakitic, who we have already discussed at length earlier in the article, has played 2,172 mins of football for Barcelona this season, compared to the 1674 afforded to Turan this season. Messi, on the other hand, has spent a total of 2,978 minutes on the pitch for Barcelona this season.
There is a valid argument that Turan has to compete with MSN – arguably the most prolific front 3 in world football – for game time but for a €40m signing the numbers do not make for a good reading.
Add to that the fact that Turan, at 30, is not getting any younger and is probably nearing the stage of earning himself one last big contract before his retirement and for that he needs game time. Whether he does that at any other big European club or in China remains to be seen but it is almost certain that Turan will leave the club in the summer.
#5 Paco Alcacer
At 23 years of age, life is good for Paco Alcacer if you look at it from a neutral perspective. However, if you are the Spaniard then you know it is not that rosy. With all the numbers regarding the playing time of different Barcelona stars that have been thrown at you during the course of the article, one name stands out – Paco Alcacer.
Having joined Barcelona from Valencia in the summer for €30m, a lot was expected of the relative young Spanish forward. He was expected to fill in the front 3 during the absence of Messi, Suarez or Neymar. However, 8 months into the season, Alcacer has featured for Barcelona on only 16 occasions which adds up to only 809 minutes on the pitch – a truly grim number, especially if you put his minutes of last season – 3,087 minutes – into perspective.
There is a valid argument that with age on his side, Alcacer could yet have a long and illustrious career at Barcelona but as things stand – it looks anything but that. Maybe a loan deal could be best for both parties, or the 23-year-old could form from now until the end of the season and establish himself as a key figure for the next season but until that happens he remains one of the stars who could face the axe from the club in the summer.
