What’s the story?
According to reports in Spain, Barcelona are all set to sign Atletico Madrid’s young sensation Theo Hernandez this summer. Spanish radio station Onda Cero claims Barcelona left-back Jordi Alba could move in the other direction.
However, Alba will not be moving on a permanent basis as the club is looking to loan him instead. Hernandez, a 19-year-old Frenchman, is currently on loan at Deportivo Alaves and has impressed both scouts and fans with his performances in La Liga this season.
Trending
In case you didn’t know...
This is not the first time Hernandez has been linked with the Catalan giants. An Atletico Madrid youth product, he had already impressed Barcelona last summer and they were looking to sign him.
However, Atletico saw Barcelona circling and gave Hernandez a new long-term deal that would keep him at the Vicente Calderon until 2021. To make things more difficult for any clubs looking to sign him, they increased his release clause to €24m (£20.3m).
The heart of the matter
With no chance of breaking into the first team with Filipe Luis having made the left-back spot his own at Atletico, Simeone allowed Hernandez to be loaned to Alaves on a season-long loan. He has regularly started for Alaves in La Liga this season having made 28 starts so far (29 appearances all season).
With the ability to play as an attacking wide man, he also has three assists to his name. He is a strong dribbler and has averaged 2 dribbles per game while his crossing is also one of his strengths. His only weakness is his discipline and has already accumulated 12 yellow cards over the course of the season.
Real Madrid were also interested in signing the youngster in a shock move for one of their arch-rival’s players. Zinedine Zidane’s side saw Hernandez as the ideal back-up for Marcelo in the left-back position and were ready to pay the release clause. But with Atletico in no mood to sell to their closest rivals, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Manchester City were also looking to sign Hernandez.
Video: Hernandez’s highlights in 2016/17
Author’s take
This seems like a bizarre deal for Barcelona who do have a decent left-back in Jordi Alba. While Alba can be erratic at times, he is not the Catalan cub’s biggest problem at the moment.
The club’s main priority should be finding a decent right-back as that is their main problem with Aleix Vidal out with a long-term injury. Even if he is back after recovering from his leg break next season, there is no telling how soon he will be back to 100%.
Loaning Alba out is not the right solution due to the wealth of experience he has with the current squad. Of course, it will all be down to the new manager who takes over and attempts to restore Barcelona’s philosophy that has been lost over the past few years under Luis Enrique.
