F.C. Barcelona: Douglas is the only dead weight left
By Erik Eckert
The Brazilian right back is not wanted by Luis Enrique and he’s been told to find a new home.
This seems to be a never ending transfer saga. It’s #Pogback all over again (ok not really, but you understand what I mean). Basically the minute Douglas walked into FC Barcelona, the Barça board has been trying to rectify what they view as an egregious error. That error? Believing he was good enough for the best club in the world..
Douglas moved to FC Barcelona from São Paulo for around 4 million euros in the summer of 2014. The move was certainly viewed with skepticism and most considered it unusually uncanny.
Douglas only featured in 10 matches for São Paulo and wasn’t considered a starter or first team player then. So nobody was exactly sure what Luis Enrique was thinking when bringing him in, as Douglas was 10x worse than Alves and to be honest wasn’t even adequate enough to be his backup.
Douglas has contributed very little to the Blaugrana in his two years. He has more titles won (7) than made appearances (3). Due to a combination of injuries and poor form (yeah, even in his very few games he’s been pretty dreadful), he’s had a lack of opportunities to move up the depth chart.
Even after the departure of Dani Alves to Juventus, the tide hasn’t changed for Douglas. It’s pretty telling, with only Aleix Vidal and Sergi Roberto at RB, neither of whom are great options, that Douglas hasn’t been able to get any preseason games.
Therefore it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Barça are trying to move Douglas. However, moving him has proved to be a bit difficult.
No team wants Douglas’ services currently. His wish is to stay in Spain because he wants to attain duel citizenship. Douglas must spend at least 3 years in Spain in order to apply for it. As long as he still has to wait, he won’t be leaving Spain. Look no further then a rejected move to Cruzeiro (according to Sport) and a return to his native Brazil. Add in his preference to stay in the top flight, and the pickings are very slim.
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If Douglas were to move this summer, he would be the 9th player to leave this transfer window. He would join Sandro Ramirez (Málaga), Alves (Juventus), Marc Bartra (Borussia Dortmund), Alen Halilovic (Hamburg), Adriano (Besiktas), Martin Montoya (Valencia), Alex Song (Rubin Kazan), and Thomas Vermaelen (Roma).
In terms of money made from these sales, the market has been a bit unfair. 4 of the 8 players left for free. The other 4 left for a combined €15.6 million. Even a club like Barcelona, who we want to think has a limitless amount of money, needs to profit off of sales.
But despite receiving an undersized amount of transfer fees, it isn’t all bad news for Barça. With the exception of Alves and Halilovic (who, don’t forget, has a buy-back option for €10 million), everyone else is considered “deadweights.”
A deadweight is another name for a fringe player. Someone who contributes next to nothing on the pitch, and is pretty much there only to collect his paycheck. I think it’s safe to say that the players that left Barça (again, not Alves or Halilovic) fit this description. Some had talent, say Bartra and Vermaelen, but just weren’t convincing enough to help the team consistently. However, the likes of Adriano and Sandro Ramirez weren’t very good and couldn’t be counted upon.
The exit of “deadweights” is a positive because they’d no longer be on the wage bill. It’s so frustrating that they take away salient money from the club and in return don’t help out on the pitch. If they can’t perform well, then having to cut them a check is aggravating business.
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So when they finally leave the club, it has two benefits: Firstly, more space is available for the club on the wage bill, so they’re no longer gonna feel such a tight grip around their finances. Secondly, they now have open roster spots and can go out and sign players that they believe can contribute to the team.
With the removal of the aforementioned players, roster spots have opened for Denis Suárez, André Gomes, Sergi Samper (from the B team), Lucas Digne, and Samuel Umtiti. Five players that will help out immensely. These five youngsters will well be worth their wages, and that’s extremely refreshing for Barcelona.
So how does Douglas play into all of this. He’s a dead weight. He’s the last dead weight on the team. (Some of you might be clamoring “Don’t forget Mathieu!”, but he isn’t there. Yet. We’ll probably put him in this category next year.)
So because Douglas is in this category, he has a target on his back. A target that only amplifies with each passing day he’s still a Barcelona player. Who knows how much longer this situation will play out, but you can easily bet that Barcelona are praying for it’s long-awaited ending.