FC Barcelona middling season has gone from bad to worse following recent developments. On the competitive side, they drew 2-2 against Celta Vigo in the latest round of La Liga fixtures. To make matters worse, their rivals Real Madrid edged past Espanyol later on, with a narrow 0-1 scoreline.
FC Barcelona Slip To 2nd As Real Madrid Take The Lead
So, as it stands, FC Barcelona is down to 2nd place, with 69 points from 32 games. Real Madrid is now 1st, with 71 points after the same number of games. With only 6 more games left in the La Liga season, it’s unlikely that FC Barcelona will be able to reclaim the top spot from Real.
Real Madrid has an easier run of fixtures. Barcelona, on the other hand, is set to host Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou soon. That’s a huge hurdle, and it’s possible that they may drop more points there.
Arthur Melo Is Leaving FC Barcelona For Juventus
When it comes to FC Barcelona transfer news, it doesn’t get much better. We’d been hearing persistent rumours that Barcelona was trying to swap Arthur Melo for Juventus’ Miralem Pjanic. Now, those rumours have come true. Arthur will go to Juventus for a fee of £72.5m on a five-year deal.
Miralem Pjanic will go the other way, for around £60m, per Sky Sports. Arthur is also 23 years old, with his entire career ahead of him. Pjanic, on the other hand, is 30 years old and is approaching his final years. He was a wonderful midfielder in his prime, but his recent form isn’t encouraging.
FC Barcelona Is Doing Poorly Both On And Off The Pitch
Anyone with a brain would tell you that this was a monumentally stupid idea. Arthur, who made his FC Barcelona transfer from Gremio back in 2018. He showed great potential during his time at Barcelona, earning to comparisons to club legend Xavi from Lionel Messi himself.
“I didn’t know that much about Arthur but he seems similar to Xavi. He’s very safe and trustworthy. He has La Masia style: playing short passes, without losing the ball,” said Messi.
Even Xavi himself admitted that seeing Arthur play was a familiar sight. “I see myself in Arthur. He thinks quickly and he still has work to do, because I improved my game at Barca and I would not have got so good in another school,” Xavi said in an interview with Radio Catalunya.
The current FC Barcelona board has led the club into financial turmoil. Selling players like Arthur may help balance the books, but it puts the club’s future in jeopardy.
