Barcelona are now in a state of misery, one which they haven’t faced in a long time now. Their first team, despite having a lot of star studded names like Leo Messi and Luis Suarez, do not look the league winning force any more.
Many prominent players in the world today have come through the Barcelona’s ranks. They were flooded with so much talent, that the club had to cash in on some of them at an early stage. Let’s take a look at 5 players who The Blaguarna would love to have in their ranks now.
Marc Bartra
Barcelona have never had to have worried about their defence- they had the best defence in the world just a few years ago. The likes of club captain Carles Puyol, Pique, Eric Abidal, Dani Alves and Jordi Alba a little later ensured they never leaked goals at the back.
Ever since the retirement of Puyol, the position has been gradually growing weaker and weaker. Lack-lustre signings in Thomas Vermalean and Jeremy Mathiew only weakened the overall squad.
When Dortmund lost their captain Hummels to Bayern, they came knocking. They managed to pick him up for a measl fee of £8m. Bartra has gone on and established himself as one of the best in the league.
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Primarily a ball playing centre-back, he provides cover on the right as well. He could’ve proved useful in the absence of Dani Alves last season and has the potential to compete with Umtiti for a place in the starting 11.
Pedro
Pedo moved to the Premier League for a fee of £30m during the summer of 2015. Yet another player who fell victim to the dominance of Messi, Neymar and Suarez at Catalonia.
Barcelona have, ever since his departure, lacked depth in the attacking department. With Deolefeu and Munir being loaned out, Sergei Roberto was slotted into the position as a substitute.
The Spaniard has been impressive for the London club over his past two years, scoring 21 goals and winning the Premier League last season. But for injury woes, he would fit right into place at Barcelona.
Alexis Sanchez
The Chilean joined Barcelona in the backdrop of 2011 and failed to make himself an essential player during his two year tenure at the Camp Nou. Barcelona sold him to Arsenal in 2014 for a fee of £35m.
Sanchez has carried Arsenal on his back for the past few years, but Barcelona did not miss him due to the presence of the MSN.
With the departure of Neymar, the best they could do to come up with a replacement was to re-sign Deolefeu. At the moment, Barca would love to have had Sanchez waiting to fill the Brazilian’s shoes.
Thiago
Barcelona signed Paulinho for a fee of £40m a couple of weeks ago. If they are so desperate for a central midfielder, they should definitely look back at the sale of Thiago Alacantara to Bayern Munich during 2013.
Although a knee-injury kept him out of the squad for a year in 2014, the 26-year old has shown what exactly has been missing in the past few seasons.
The retirement of Xavi left a gaping hole in the midfield. Rakatic has been a good cover for the past few seasons, there has been no backup for the position.
Selling him looks like a poor decision now, with Barcelona’s midfield in transition and weaknesses emerging.
Cesc Fabregas
Cesc Fabregas has spent most of his career coming into and going out of Barcelona.
His impact as a 19-year old on the Premier League caught the eyes of many. He was a lone star in a transitioning Arsenal team, leading them to victory in the FA cup. His 8-year stint at the club saw him named as the captain of Arsenal at the age of 21.
He moved back to his boyhood club, where he fit in alongside Iniesta and became one of the best in the world.
Fabregas returned to Barcelona in 2011, however after three years Fabregas expressed his desire to leave and joined Chelsea for €33m. With his ability to control the tempo of the game and pick out the right pass ,the 30-year-old would surely still be extremely useful to Barcelona should he still be at the club.
