4 players who should never play for Barcelona again

#2 Miralem Pjanic

Pjanic recently left Barcelona for Besiktas

Miralem Pjanic's 'dream move' to Barcelona has been a complete disaster for all concerned parties. The Bosnian midfielder was widely known for his innovative skills through which he created chances out of nowhere, before his transfer to the Catalan giants. Due to minimal game-time, Pjanic failed miserably to showcase his most reliable abilities, racking up a total of zero goal contributions in his debut campaign.

However, with just 30 games under his belt, of which only five occasions ended with Pjanic playing the full 90 minutes, not much blame can be placed on the Bosnian's shoulders. Purchased for a monumental fee, you'd expect a €60m signing to start every game of the week. On the contrary, Pjanic could only muster 13 starts in his maiden season before being shipped off to Besiktas on a season-long loan.

Miralem Pjanic did not hold back about his time under Ronald Koeman 😳 pic.twitter.com/S83b2Bl5Zd

— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 4, 2021

The club's failure to incorporate a proven star while paying him an insane amount of money has caused both of them a great deal of pain. While Pjanic is no longer the player he was with Juventus, Barcelona had to bear his colossal annual salary of €12.7m for a whole season.

While in a generous act, the 31-year-old playmaker did take a 60% cut on his current wages before being exiled to Turkey, his future with Barcelona is bleak at best. To avoid further embarrassment, a mutual termination of his contract would be the best outcome, with Ronald Koeman showing no intentions of including the €60m signing in his squad.

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#1 Martin Braithwaite

Barcelona paid €18m for Braithwaite's services

In usual cases, a striker with a tally of two goals and an assist in the opening three games of the season will never end up on such kinds of lists. However, Martin Braithwaite is not your average striker. The Danish target has always played for low-tier teams, turning out for the likes of Middlesbrough and Leganes over the course of his career.

Braithwaite was signed up as an emergency recruitment following injuries to multiple attackers. He was expected to play a similar kind of role to Kevin-Prince Boateng during his bizarre six-month loan spell with the club.

Nevertheless, the mediocre frontman managed to extend his stay by a whole season and is currently a regular starter at a club of Barcelona's stature. While an average attacking output justifies his constant inclusion in the first team, Braithwaite's lengthy stint with the 26-time La Liga champions is a thing of concern.

This encourages the exact kind of behavior that Barcelona desperately need to avoid in order to regain their status as the best club in Spain. A supposed European powerhouse cannot dream of re-conquering what was once their empire unless they stop accommodating mediocrity.

Barcelona letting Griezmann go on loan to direct title rivals Atletico in order to shed wages after paying €120m for him... 🤦🏼‍♂️And then signing Luuk De Jong to play up top with Martin Braithwaite... 🙈🙈Wow. 📉📉

— Joe Thomlinson (@joethomlinson) August 31, 2021

Braithwaite's output of just 10 goals of sub-par quality in 56 appearances should result in expulsion and not a starting position in one of the most esteemed institutions in modern football. To retain their position at the top, Barcelona desperately need to get rid of certain players and the likes of Martin Braithwaite should be the first names on such a list.

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