FC Barcelona are well aware of their limitations in terms of recruitments that they will have to simultaneously cope with as they look to reinforce their squad for the upcoming season.
However, simply signing the most expensive players irrespective of their place in a particular system is often a catastrophic decision and one that FC Barcelona have managed to avoid courtesy of their low-cost replacement for Sergio Busquets.
According to Spanish outlet SPORT, Barcelona head coach Xavi remained convinced by the acquisition of Girona midfielder and former La Masia graduate Oriol Romeu and has not been let down by his performances since.
The 31-year-old midfielder has marked his presence within this Blaugrana squad already and has shown levels of adaptation within the Catalan team that many had doubted him to be capable of when he was initially being linked to Barcelona.
Against all the opponents thus far played in the pre-season, Romeu played against each as a starter. Since Xavi’s arrival at Barcelona, no current player in the squad nor any new arrival has started in each game of the pre-season.
Last summer, it was Raphinha who had the most involvements in that sense of new arrivals, having participated in 5 games out of the 7 that Barcelona took part in.
This time around, Romeu was one of the most used players by Barcelona coach Xavi, with his contribution of 281 minutes, he was second only to French central defender Jules Kounde, who played 292 minutes during the preseason.
Heading into the new season ahead, the Barcelona pivot will be instrumental to the team and has already amplified the performances of those around him, namely Frenkie De Jong as the Dutchman has been allowed much more freedom courtesy of the impact and defensive stability provided by the former Girona midfielder.
