Barcelona and Andres Iniesta parted company after an association of well over a decade. The World Cup winner left for Japanese club Vissel Kobe to continue his career as it draws close to an end. The 34 year old left Barcelona for Southeast Asia after a long and illustrious career in Catalonia.
He was one of the greatest midfielder’s to grace the football pitch in his prime and in his latter stages too. Needless to say, Barcelona will have to fill his void soon.
Andres Iniesta’s former club had lined up a wish list of numerous targets. Those included Marco Veratti, Adrien Rabiot, N’Golo Kante, Willian and Paul Pogba to name a few prominent names. The Catalans were heavily linked with a move for the Manchester United midfielder in recent weeks.
There was speculation about Pogba meeting Eric Abidal in Los Angeles and Mino Raiola travelling to Barcelona to formulate a move for his client. However, there has been no concrete deal struck. Manchester United are reluctant in letting go of Paul Pogba irrespective of the fee that comes their way.
As a result, Barcelona have pulled the plug on the France international. The World Cup winner’s potential transfer to Barcelona is now off if the rumour mill is anything to go by. The Catalan giants will now turn to an in-house option with several names present in their world class squad. Ernesto Valverde has already signed Arthur Melo, Malcom and Arturo Vidal to bolster his midfield. Phillipe Coutinho is also present and a versatile option in the centre of the park.
Barcelona will begin their season officially on the 12th of August. The Supercopa de Espana will be a single legged affair this season due to lack of available dates. The Catalans will take on Andalusian rivals Sevilla in Tangier, Morocco on Sunday. Their La Liga defence will begin a week later with a visit of Deportivo Alaves to the Camp Nou.
