FC Barcelona incorporated several high-profile players last summer, including Ilkay Gundogan, Joao Felix, and Joao Cancelo, but ironically, the player that the Catalans spent the most money on in that window was Oriol Romeu.
The former three, who came as free agents or free loans, have incorporated well into Xavi’s squad, but the case of Oriol Romeu is different. He started off well in Barcelona, but his performances in the last few matches have been questionable.
His poor form has led the Catalan club to consider whether a new midfield pivot should be signed in the coming winter window, and one of the players being considered for this position is the Brazilian Gabriel Moscardo.
The youngster is on Barcelona’s agenda for the medium to long term, and Deco also admitted recently that Moscardo is a player being followed by Barcelona.
However, according to Diario AS, the Catalans believe they already have enough young players in the squad and are now looking for a player with more experience.
Furthermore, it is also not clear whether Barcelona will actually sign a midfielder in the winter window. The club’s priority is to get Vitor Roque in January. While the player is valued at €1.5 million, Corinthians can ask for as much as €20 million for him, which would be almost impossible for Barcelona to pay.
The number 5 position can turn out to be an area of problem for the club in the future, and the only suitable solution for Barcelona seems to be the settlement of Frenkie de Jong into this position. However, the Dutchman is a very dynamic player, and his profile suits other roles better than this one.
FC Barcelona had to content themselves with Oriol Romeu, as they ruled out more expensive options like Joshua Kimmich and Martin Zubimendi last summer while also picking the La Masia graduate over Ruben Neves, Guido Rodriguez, and Soufyan Amrabat.
However, as the Romeu experiment has not gone exactly as planned, Deco will have to take his next steps even more carefully.
