Loan deals have not sat well with Barcelona in the past. As a matter of fact, it was rather rare for a player on loan from the Catalan club to make it big outside the club, perhaps because of the ingrained ideology of a distinctive style of football.
This season, however, the situation is different. Barcelona have eight players out on loan in Ansu Fati, Chadi Riad, Eric Garcia, Clement Lenglet, Sergino Dest, Julian Araujo, Pablo Torre and Alex Valle.
Unlike previous seasons, all the aforementioned names are playing significant roles for their new clubs.
The possible returnees
As revealed in a recent update via SPORT, the Catalans are under pressure to decide the future of the eight loanees as their wages are putting pressure on the club’s already overloaded payroll.
Needless to say, the focus will be on selling many of the players on loan owing to the surplus of resources and the large payslip. There are, however, two players with a solid chance of returning to the Catalan first-team and making it big.
The Spanish publication reveals that Alex Valle and Julian Araujo are the two youngsters with real chances of sparking a return.
Barcelona do not have a natural right-back option as it stands, and Araujo would fit well into that position come next season. Valle, meanwhile, stakes claim for a position at left-back as Marcos Alonso is set to leave the club in June.
Standout performers
Julian Araujo arrived at Barcelona from LA Galaxy back in January 2023. After training with the subsidiary team for a while, however, the coaches felt that he required more exposure to develop into a player of Barcelona’s standard.
His struggle to adapt to life at Barcelona saw him move to Las Palmas late last summer, and the youngster has been on fire ever since. He has made 21 La Liga appearances for the club this season, averaging 0.7 key passes and seven defensive actions per game.
Valle, meanwhile, is playing for Levante in the subsidiary division and has racked up 21 starts for Felipe Miñambres’ side. In that duration, he has also averaged 0.7 key passes and over ten defensive actions per game.
