Ever since Sergio Busquets left Barcelona at the end of the 2022-23 season for Inter Miami, the club has lacked a defensive midfielder of a similar profile and caliber. Last season, they brought in Oriol Romeu from Girona but the player struggled to adapt to the high-pressure environment at the Catalan club.
Eventually, Xavi Hernandez opted for a left-field option by deploying Andreas Christensen as the defensive pivot which resulted in a significant upturn in Barcelona’s results. However, by then, the season had already reached a foregone conclusion.
New Barcelona boss Hansi Flick is known to favor a different system to his predecessor. The German coach’s patented 4-2-3-1 differs from the lone-pivot system that Xavi preferred. Regardless, signing a holding midfielder is of utmost importance going ahead.
It’s no secret that Hansi Flick’s desired name for the position is Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich. However, the German superstar will not come cheap despite being in the final year of his contract and also wants a €20 million contract per year, which would put him in the same bracket as Robert Lewandowski and Frenkie de Jong.
Furthermore, with Martin Zubimendi ruled out and a move for Amadou Onana considered complicated, the Catalans are exploring the market for low-cost alternatives and it seems that a certain Brazilian midfielder has caught their attention.
According to SPORT, despite Barcelona’s continued pursuit of Kimmich, they have turned their attention to 26-year-old Brazilian midfielder Marcus Wendel Valle da Silva who plays his football for Zenit Saint Petersburg.
The Russian club would ask around €20m for the player whose contract runs until 2027. Capable of playing as a defensive midfielder as a part of a double pivot and also further forward as an #8, Wendel would be a low-cost option for FC Barcelona to reinforce their midfield.
However, he is not the profile Barcelona must look at. He would be similar to Ilkay Gundogan and Frenkie de Jong in terms of playstyle and would not be the out-and-out defensive midfielder that the club needs.
The position in which he excels is already well-stacked at Barcelona with the likes of Pedri, Gavi, Fermin, De Jong, and Gundogan. If we look to spend money on a midfielder, it must only be on someone who can offer something that these names cannot – defensive solidity. Otherwise, we would be better off continuing with the Christensen experiment or looking within La Masia, which usually always comes up with an answer.
