Saying that all that Adama Traore is bringing to Barcelona is muscles is just lazy. Saying that all that Adama Traore is bringing to Barcelona is speed is a bit closer to the truth, but still lazy. The Barcelona-born winger, who grew up 10 minutes from the Camp Nou, is a low-risk, medium-reward loan move and another act of good will towards the idea that La Masia is still the backbone of Barcelona’s return to glory.
Adama will frustrate Culers with his ability to great danger with his staggering speed, but absence of finishing product. With his physical gifts, if he was able to deliver that final ball or put the ball in the net, Wolves wouldn’t be letting him go on loan and there’s an argument that he wouldn’t be playing for Wolves at all.
Adama has contributed just one goal in 23 appearances with no assists. That’s not great. However, and it’s only however if Xavi can utilize his skills, the winger is in the 94th percentile in aerials duel (1.98), the 94th percentile in progressive carries (9.75), and 99th percentile in dribbles completed (5.15). He’s a player that does very well with what he does well, but struggles with the rest. His xA (expected assists) of 0.17, putting him in the 51st percentile, isn’t a good sign that he’ll have any chemistry with the likes of Luuk de Jong and Martin Braithwaite, two players that need the ball delivered on a platter. What’s worse – Adama is in the 24th percentile in non-penalty xG (expected goals), with just 0.15 per 90. Don’t expect goals and you won’t get disappointed.
Those numbers shouldn’t have Culers excited, but they are tolerable considering the stakes. Considering Adama Traore as anything more than an upgrade to EZ Abde is asking too much of the 26-year-old. Ferran Torres should be seen as the “replacement” for Ousmane Dembele, not Adama. The former La Masia star has something to prove back in Catalonia, and a loan without a mandatory buy option (it’s a €30m purchase option) is a deal for Barça where they have nothing to lose, other than paying his reduced salary for six months.
Where there better options out there than Adama? Yes, and that’s why Torres was brought in weeks earlier for €55m. It’s why Alvaro Morata is still being talked about just hours before the deadline. With the arrivals of Dani Alves, Ferran Torres, and Adama Traore, the players that should take the three January registration spots for the Europa League, Mateu Alemany can say that he’s already had as a successful of a January window as most clubs around the world.
Bringing in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on a loan, who still has 7 goals and 2 assists this season despite only playing 15 matches, would be the cherry on top. Like Adama’s loan, if Barça can handle his salary and not be on the hook for a mandatory purchase option, then you bring in a player of the Arsenal forward’s pedigree. The one hurdle? £350,000-a-week salary is a hefty bit of change and will make registering him even more challenging. Adama reportedly lowered his salary to facilitate the move, as did Torres and Alves, so Aubameyang would need to do the same.
At the start of the season it would have been shocking to think that Ansu Fati would still be out (again) long-term, Memphis Depay would potentially be sidelined for at least a third of the season, and Ousmane Dembele may have played his last match for the club in January. Replacing those three with an entirely new front three of academy players, Luuk de Jong, Martin Braithwaite, and January signings is a testament to the difficulty of the job that Alemany had at his feet.
In that context, it does feel like forward was the position of need, all things considered. But it’s not as if the club isn’t actively trying to bring in Nicolas Tagliafico, Ajax’s back-up left-back. Unlike the other clubs, Ajax is unwilling to give away their player for nothing, just to get him back in the summer if he underwhelms.
The necessity to play Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, and Gerard Pique at every hurdle says less about Xavi playing favorites and more about the lack of depth that this squad is facing. Alemany has almost made Culers forget the financial troubles that the club is still in – it’s partially what’s kept the old guard around. More money may be coming on the horizon, but Barcelona will continue to be a bit flawed until further notice.
Dan Hilton is an American journalist, broadcaster, and current Editor-in-Chief of BarcaBlog. Extensive work as a play-by-play broadcaster, producer behind the scenes, and quite average player in his younger years has given him a well-rounded and informative perspective on the sport. Alongside BarcaBlog founder Francesc, Dan started The Barcelona Podcast in 2017
