One of the players with a highly uncertain future at FC Barcelona is the current first captain of the team, Sergi Roberto. His performance against Almeria can open a door for him to become an important player for Xavi this season, but his game time is expected to dwindle when the head coach has all his midfielders available.
The La Masia graduate extended his Barcelona contract for one season last year, and has the option to have it extended by another year. The player’s priority is to remain at Barcelona, the club where he began his professional career and where he has stayed ever since his senior debut.
However, according to SPORT, if he has to leave the Catalan club, he might find the attraction of the Premier League too strong to resist.
The player wants to end his career in the MLS, but still only 31 years old, Roberto believes he is fit enough to remain competitive in European football at the highest level, and he has already received interest from England at various points of his career.
The last Premier League side to have made an effort to sign Roberto was Arsenal, as Arteta rates the midfielder highly, and believes a player of Roberto’s experience and style can significantly help his young team. Roberto also likes London a lot and also spent his Christmas holidays in the British capital.
In 2020, he also had the option to join Manchester City, as Pep Guardiola clearly showed a preference for Roberto when he was offered Nelson Semedo by the Catalan club. However, the player himself was unwilling to make a move then because of the uncertainties caused by the pandemic, and as he had a contract with Barcelona till 2022.
Even before that, Stoke City had emerged as a potential destination for Roberto in 2015, which was attractive as Roberto’s close friend, Marc Muniesa, was also playing there, and Roberto himself was not getting many opportunities at Barcelona.
However, FIFA’s sanction on the Blaugranes kept them from registering any new players at that time. Thus, Barcelona retained Roberto, and an injury to Dani Alves opened up the opportunity for him to play in a new position, i.e., the right back.
Afterward, he got more game time under Luis Enrique, but now he is getting only sparse game time once again. However, his game is highly suitable for the Premier League, and his English language skills also make him a particularly well-suited candidate to join an English club in the future.
