Finding a replacement guarantee for Jordi Alba has become one of the priorities in Barça’s renewal for the 2021/22 season. The initial idea of the club was to raise Alejando Balde to the first team, a 17-year-old youth squad in whom there is a lot of confidence for the future, but Koeman’s words after the end of the league have made a dent in Can Barça and plans seem to have changed. “We have to improve the squad. There are very old players and other very young players who must learn,” said the coach. For this reason, Barça has launched itself on the market to raise the competitive level of the squad and, As confirmed by AS, he has his eye on Owen Wijndal, a 21-year-old left-hander from AZ Alkmaar who has been cited by Frank de Boer among those shortlisted to go to the next European Championship.
But for players to enter, first you have to let them out and, in this case, the great victim is Junior Firpo, for the one who does two seasons 18 million more variable euros were paid to Betis and whose performance has not been far from what was expected. Quite the opposite. Koeman has barely counted on him and only played 844 minutes spread over 18 games. Therefore, it is essential to look for a substitute in order to Jordi Alba and Wijndal, whom the coach knows from Dutch football, has taken pole position.
Wijndal has passed through all the lower categories of the Netherlands national team and this season has completed a great year that has opened the doors of the Oranje to him. Undisputed holder at AZ Alkmaar, who has fought with Ajax and PSV for the Eredivisie, has played 42 matches this course in which he has contributed two goals and six assists to his team.
<figure id="sumario_3|foto" onclick="javascript:ampliaFoto(this, '/futbol/imagenes/2021/05/24/primera/1621873244_558685_1621873629_sumario_grande.jpg', '976', '978', 'Gráfica de rendimiento de Owen Wijndal. / BeSoccer’);return false;” class=”item-multimedia”> Owen Wijndal performance graph. What’s more, Wijndal’s agent is Mino Raiola, which maintains a good relationship with Joan Laporta, which would facilitate the operation. According Transfermakrt its market value is 15 million euros, but Barça hopes not to have to reach that amount.
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