Latest Barcelona midfielder arrival has yet to feature under Ronald Koeman.
Many players have departed the club after the arrival of Barcelona’s new manager Ronald Koeman. The transfers either happened to free up wages or it happened because the players would not be a part of the Dutchman’s plans at the Nou Camp. Brazilian midfielder Matheus Fernandes arrived in Barca with high hopes but is yet to feature even once so far during the reign of Koeman.
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Barcelona have played a lot of games already this season in La Liga and in the UEFA Champions League but the Brazilian is yet to make an appearance. It does not look like he is a part of Koeman’s plans for this season especially with players like Frenkie de Jong, Sergio Busquets, Philippe Coutinho named in the starting eleven. It was the same case with Luis Suarez which led the Uruguayan to depart the club and join Atletico Madrid on a free transfer even though he had a year left. Barca handed the center-forward a payout. But the same cannot be done for Matheus Fernandes as he has just arrived at the club and is being wasted away on the bench.
Koeman made it extremely clear that he does not want the midfielder in his side as Fernandes was not even featured in the pre-season games. Even B team players were featured but the Brazilian was sidelined. However, the Catalans tried to find a club for the midfielder but they failed. They wanted to send the midfielder out on loan but there was no club willing to save the player. Hence he got stuck at the Nou Camp with him being registered at the last moment.
After arriving at the club he went on to play for Valladolid on loan but even there he just made three appearances with his debut being a 1-0 loss against Atletico Madrid. The player had just made 11 appearances for Palmeiras before the Blaugrana signed him for 10 million including add ons. However, it was clear that he will not be a part of newly appointed coach Koeman’s plans as he was not featured in the 23 substitutes made in a pre-season game. It looks like he might head out of the club in January or next summer, adding to the list of Brazilian midfielders that have struggled at Barca, with the likes of Coutinho, Arthur Melo, and Paulinho all known to have failed to cement themselves at the Nou Camp.
Should Koeman give Matheus a chance?