Barcelona were set a gargantuan task at the end of last season and given none of the resources to carry it out. Following the exit of Sergio Busquets, Barcelona have looked a little lost in the middle of the pitch whenever Frenkie de Jong has been absent, and while Oriol Romeu was a good depth option to bring in on a cheap deal, asking him to mimic the impact of Busquets is not a viable method of progress thus far.
Next summer, when Barcelona hope to have a little more money with which to replace Busquets, they will look to bring in a more definitive successor. Who that is, remains to be seen. There had been a number of reports that they believed that 18-year-old Corinthians midfielder Gabriel Moscardo might be the one to do so.
Sporting Director Deco has confirmed that he is a player they are following, and along with Chelsea, Barcelona appear to believe Moscardo has a big future ahead of him. Yet Sport say that the Blaugrana may not compete with Chelsea for his signature this summer.
Already a squad full of youngsters, Diario AS say that this is one of the reasons that Barcelona are edging towards looking for a more experienced option to take on the responsibility as the key link between the defence and the midfield.
In spite of that perspective, which is an entirely logical point of view, especially in th wake of Xavi Hernandez’s latest comments, where exactly that midfielder comes from is not yet clear. While Busquets struggled to keep pace in the big games without the ball, his leadership, positioning and use of the ball in the midfield was still comparable with many top players, and the loss of that has not been compensated for.
