Fabinho
Another alternative target from the French league is the talented Brazilian full-back turned midfielder at Monaco. He was one of the stars of the principality team which took Ligue 1 and the Champions League by storm. The team favoured a decisive, deadly counter-attacking style which Fabinho excelled in.
This is backed up by his stats because he averaged 51.4 passes per game across Ligue 1 and the Champions League. His pass success percentage averaged 84.6 across these two competitions. Compared to Verratti and Seri, he spreads the ball around less and isn’t as tidy with it. However, it could easily be argued that Monaco’s style of play favours risk and incision over keeping possession.
As a passing option he is safe to use, which suits Barcelona’s style. He rarely gets dispossessed (0.5 per game), and has excellent control (0.6 bad pieces of control per game). There is also the added bonus of his height which means it would be hard to dominate for the opposition to dominate physically with him in the team.
He might not be the most dangerous passer with 0.9 key passes and 0.1 through balls per game, but he did average 3.2 long balls which is a clear example of Leonardo Jardim’s attempts to make use of Kylian Mbappé’s pace in behind the opposition defence.
His successful move into midfield shows that he is adaptable. Moving to Barcelona would be a big shift in style from Monaco, but there is clear signs that he would be to fit in. One advantage at Barcelona is having better quality players to play off, and the experienced Sergio Busquets as a ‘safety belt’. He also excelled in the Champions League, whereas, Seri has no experience at that level.