What could have been... imagine Kroos or Modric at Barcelona
There are players like Luka Modric, a footballer who dreamed of playing at Barcelona, but he ended up being a key player for Real Madrid
"There's never been such a surplus of talent in midfield as there is now." The quote is from 2011 and from one of the youth coaches with the best reputation at Barcelona.
Nobody imagined that six years later the midfield area would be the place with the most issues. In fact, the problem was finding space before with so many places available. Iniesta and Xavi were the basic block of the team, and of course Busquets too. Then thre were to players who were fighting for a spot in the team, Cesc Fabregas and Thiago Alcantara, who looked to be long term replacements.
Other players like Sergi Roberto and Rafinha, and the options of youngsters like Sergi Samper and Wilfrid Kaptoum, looked set to assure the conservation of the species. But the reality is no replacements for Xavi and Iniesta have been found, including in the transfer market.
There are players like Luka Modric, a footballer who dreamed of playing at Barcelona, but he ended up being a key player for Real Madrid. The central midfielder was being watched by the club but ended up signing for Tottenham.
After his explosion in the Premier League, Madrid went fishing for him and shelled out a lot of money. Another Madrid player who was in Barcelona's orbit was Toni Kroos, who was overlooked in the end in favour of Ivan Rakitic.
The German was on the market after deciding to leave Bayern Munich, but Andoni Zubizarreta preferred the option of the Croatian, a player who has been key in the success of Luis Enrique's Barcelona.
