Miralem Pjanic at Barcelona: How will he cope at Camp Nou?

Finally, Arthur Melo has left Barcelona and would join Juventus and Cristiano Ronaldo in Turin. Despite not interested t leave Camp Nou, in the end, he had to make one of the most important decisions in his playing career – leave Barcelona. Barcelona and Juventus have reached an agreement for a de facto swap deal between midfielders Arthur Melo and Miralem Pjanic.

As a matter of fact, it was a good decision by Arthur to leave Barca. There is no point in warming the bench despite being in a good shape and form. Again, you don’t wish to associate with those who don’t value your talent and contribution.

But the focus of CricketSoccer, right now, is on Pjanic.

How would he cope in the Barca system?

According to Marca, “It's clear that Barcelona have needed to balance their accounts for a while now and this injection of cash will help them considerably, even if they'll have to give some of that back for Pjanic's arrival”.

“Above all, this deal is creative financial management that those at the Camp Nou have had to become familiar with in recent years”.

Pjanic joined the Bianconeri from Roma in the summer of 2016 and has clocked up 170 appearances in that timeframe, scoring 22 goals. Earlier this week, Diario Sport reported the Bosnian international had turned down more lucrative financial offers from Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain to reach an agreement contractually with the Catalan club.

His role in Juve had been as a marker more than a Regista. It actually stagnated the midfield of Juve and Maurizio Sarri wanted to inject creativity at the center of the park and someone like Arthur would fulfill his wishes.

Pjanic ages 30 now while Arthur 23 – many would be confused with the recruitment of an aged individual at the cost of a young and promising star. But when the financial matters intervene, a club has little to choose.

Pjanic is not a star and does not hog the limelight like others and his quietness might let him earn a few more playing days – Barcelona, perhaps, like to deal with such characters more.

On a positive note, Pjanic is fitter than Arthur and while the Brazilian has been injured nine times in two seasons, missing 22 games, at that same time, Juventus have only had to do without Pjanic on three occasions.  

Then, over the years, Pjanic sacrificed his playmaking abilities to become a tough nut at the deep, which would give Barca the solidity whenever they would need his service.  Pjanic's ability to shoot from ranges make him a very productive player. Again, he is a dead-ball specialist, even though, due to the presence of Lionel Messi, he might not be able to exhibit that much.

Arthur suited the style of Barca, but one cannot undermine the experience and tough mentality of Pjanic by any means. He could prove a point at Camp Nou if given the opportunities and respect.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 27/06/2020 Miralem Pjanic at Barcelona: How will he cope at Camp Nou?  

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Faisal Caesar