5 players who need to leave Barcelona to progress

#4 Rafinha

Rafinha

Rafinha’s case for remaining at Barcelona took an interesting, unfortunate twist lately with his horrific injury. Back in April he picked up a knee injury against Granada, and was set to be missing for up to four months. A setback, however, saw the player require surgery and add an extra period of time out for the unlucky player. Now, with the no set return date and a contract winding down, Rafinha’s future is anything but clear.

After a successful loan spell at Celta Vigo, it was expected that Rafinha would flourish at Barcelona having shown his ability to learn and work hard while in Galician. Luis Enrique, who had coached the player while at Celta, was the new Barça boss and it seemed Rafinha being one of his favourites might well be catapulted to the front of Barça’s first team.

Opportunities were slim however, when Rafinha did come into the team he impressed and offered a different outlet in midfield, just sitting behind the attack. Also operating from the right, Rafinha has the ability to drive inside and dribble against opponents.

Injuries and a lack of opportunities have conspired against the Brazilian however, and it now appears not only his time at Barça but general career is on a knife-edge. His father Mazhino recently stated that Rafinha harboured ambitions of feating for Brazil at the World Cup but with that just around the corner the chances are growing slimmer by the day.

A boost could potentially be to leave in January, and with that in mind, Rafinha might be able to get the minutes he desires to recover from the injury and generally progress as a player.