After a promising start to the season, Barcelona’s fortunes have soured in recent weeks, particularly in Europe, where they have been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League.
It has prompted some criticism of the project, given the Catalans’ lavish spending over the summer to sign top-quality stars in multiple positions.
While there has been external criticism, a new report from SPORT claims that Barcelona is ‘upset’ with two of their forwards, Memphis Depay and Raphinha.
Depay has been at the club since last summer and even finished his debut campaign as the top-scorer with 12 goals. But with the arrivals of Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha in the summer, he has fallen down the pecking order and has played just three times this season.
The Dutchman picked up a thigh injury last month while on international duty. While it was initially believed that he would be back in action in a month, the 28-year-old is yet to complete his recovery and has exceeded the expected recovery timeline.
In total, Depay has missed eight matches for Barcelona due to injury. And the club are said to have some ‘discomfort’ with the situation.
The report states that Barça suspects that Depay is prioritizing being fit for the upcoming FIFA World Cup which is slated to kick off in a little over two weeks rather than helping the team in the demanding fixture schedule in the run-up to the tournament in Qatar.
As for Raphinha, the Blaugrana are said to be internally surprised by the sharp decline in his form, which in turn has led to a reduced role in Xavi’s side.
Indeed, after starting El Clasico against Real Madrid, the Brazilian played just 16 minutes against Villarreal while he did not feature at all versus Athletic Club, before making a 30-minute cameo against Bayern Munich.
It is also not lost on club officials that Raphinha has yet to score or assist in the Champions League this season.
With the pressure mounting, it goes without saying that the former Leeds United winger will need to up his game in the coming weeks.
It remains to be seen whether Depay will be able to return to action before the World Cup break. According to reports, Barcelona may look to sanction his departure in January due to his diminished importance in the manager’s plans.
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