Whoever leaves Barcelona on loan loses his chance of success. There are more than enough examples

Remember the last time a Barcelona player went on loan and came back to shine at Camp Nou? A question that is once again sparking a great debate in the Catalan capital. Especially after the recent departure of Nico González, who headed to Valencia on a one-year loan.

The truth is that many times players have left who have done very well on loan in new teams. Mostly they were developing their game, so they were fulfilling the task Barcelona let them go with.

For example, it is worth mentioning Mikel Arteta (PSG 2001/02), Gerard Deulofeu ( Everton 2013/14, Sevilla 2014/15) Cristian Tello (Porto 2014-16, Fiorentina 2016/17), Munir (Valencia 2016/17, Alaves 2017/18) or Marc Cucurella (Eibar 2018/19, Getafe 2019/20).

In the same breath, it should be added that none of these players managed to make a dent in the world and have a great career at Camp Nou. The club sold them immediately upon their return, except for Munir. He left six months after his return.

There’s also practically Pedri, who Barcelona brought in from Las Palmas. However, they let him play one more season in the Canary Islands. But I wouldn’t compare this case with the aforementioned guest appearances.

We can look back more than twenty years and the only example worth mentioning is Rafinha. The Brazilian midfielder, brother of the more famous Thiago who plays for Liverpool, spent the 2013/14 season on loan at Celta Vigo , where he scored four goals in 33 games under Luis Enrique.

A year later, Luis Enrique became Barcelona coach and Rafinha was assured of a place in the first team.

Although he was not a starting player, he was used quite often in the rotation. In fact, he played 36 games and scored two goals. In a season when Barcelona won their second treble in history. However, the following season Rafinha suffered a serious injury and played only eleven games.

This is where his battle with injury began. Better for him was the 2016/17 season, when he managed to score seven goals in 28 matches and was one of the important players of his team.

However, his frequent injuries would lead to him being unavailable to the coach many times during the season. In March 2017, Rafinha suffered a serious meniscus injury. A year later in November, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament and in the last three years at Camp Nou, the La Masia offspring has played only eleven games.

Had it not been for the injury, he would definitely have had a much better career. Either way, he remains the best answer to our question. In the last twenty-plus years, he is the only one who has partially succeeded after a loan spell.

Source: Tribune