Where to find the new Iniesta?
After much speculation, midfielder Andres Iniesta finally announced his decision to leave Barca at the end of the season in a press conference late on April 27 (Vietnam time).
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| Iniesta holds up the King's Cup he won with Barca this season. Photo: REUTERS |
For Iniesta, this is probably a reasonable decision at the age of nearly 34. 16 years of professional playing for Barca with 4 Champions League titles, 8 La Liga (will be 9 if Barca wins this season)... is a very fulfilling achievement for a player's career. It's time for Iniesta to rest and... earn money the easy way with a contract in China or the US according to rumors.
But for Barca, saying goodbye to Iniesta at this time will leave many difficult problems for the coaching staff. Therefore, "finding someone to replace Iniesta" will certainly be the main goal in Barca's transfer plan this summer.
In some ways, Iniesta's departure has helped Barca in their plan to reform the team, but finding a replacement for him is not easy. With 38 appearances, Iniesta is still the most important midfielder for Barca this season, the only player capable of sharing the burden of leading the game with Messi.
This responsibility can gradually be transferred to Philippe Coutinho next season when the Brazilian midfielder has fully adapted to Barca's style of play and is ready to play in the Champions League (he cannot play this season because he played for Liverpool in the first half of the season).
Coutinho, despite his equally good technique, is not a model that can replace Iniesta in Barca's style of play. Coutinho prefers to dribble and be ready for breakthroughs rather than play a passing game, moving silently and intelligently to bring balance to the midfield.
Even if Barca return to a three-man midfield next season and play Coutinho in midfield, they still need to sign a talented midfielder. Barca's midfield has been inconsistent this season. Ivan Rakitic is 30 and is less and less innovative in his play, while new signing Paulinho has had some bright moments but is still limited in his calibre. Meanwhile, Andre Gomes and Denis Suarez are just average players.
And finally, where in the world of football can we find a midfielder with the technical qualities of Messi but is as quiet and humble as a defensive player like Iniesta?
