On Wednesday, Barcelona flew to the United States of America for their pre-season tour, with Xavi Hernandez taking as many as 32 players with him on the trip.
Of those 32, there were seven players from the youth and reserves squad, with the likes of Aleix Garcia, Alex Valle, Mikayil Faye, Fermin Lopez, Marc Casado, Ander Astralaga, and Lamine Yamal making the cut.
One of the most notable absentees from the squad was defensive prodigy Chadi Riad. The 20-year-old Moroccan centre-half had been a permanent fixture in Rafa Marquez’s Barça Atletic side last season and even made his first-team debut for the Blaugrana under Xavi.
Given how highly he is rated within the club, there were expectations that Riad would be on the flight to the USA. But, reports suggested that the youngster was asked to stay back by Xavi himself as he wants the 20-year-old to secure a loan move away this summer.
Soon after, reports emerged claiming that Riad was indeed closing in on a loan exit, with a move to second-division club Sporting Gijon in the works.
However, now, journalist Albert Roge is claiming that amid talks of a loan exit for Riad, the possibility of a permanent transfer away from Barcelona cannot be ruled out at this point.
The 20-year-old’s current contract with Barça expires next year and it has been suggested that the club would extend his deal further before loaning him out.
But the possibility of him being offloaded permanently cannot be taken off the table at the moment, as per Roge.
In such a scenario, it is very likely that the La Liga champions would insert a repurchase option in the deal so that they have some degree of control over the youngster’s future in case his development follows an upward curve.
As things stand, there is nothing guaranteed as far as Riad’s future is concerned. And it remains to be seen if the youngster leaves on loan or is offloaded permanently by Barcelona.
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