What is going on with Barcelona midfielder Matheus Fernandes?
El centrocampista brasileño Matheus Fernandes fue la novedad en el entrenamiento del Barcelona este miércoles, en el que no participaron ninguno de los dos teóricos laterales zurdos (Jordi Alba y Junior Firpo), que están prácticamente descartados para el próximo partido ante el Getafe. / | EFE
The Brazilian is not in Koeman's plans and hasn't featured in a match day squad
Ronald Koeman has shown his hand during his first five games in charge of FC Barcelona. The Dutch coach is slowly revealing his intentions and one of them involves Matheus Fernandez, who has not been called up to one matchday squad despite being given a first-team number.
The Brazilian midfielder has not been given a chance since day one of preseason. Koeman made that clear by not calling him up for any friendlies, despite turning to B team players like Konrad de la Fuente. During the transfer window, Barça looked for a loan move but couldn't find a club for Matheus, who ended up staying and being registered to the first team at the last minute.
After overcoming a minor fitness issue and returning to training, Matheu is still not part of Koeman's plans. In the game against Ferencvaros, when there were changes, he didn't even make the 23-man squad when, for example, Barça B's Mingueza was included.
NO PRESENTATION
Bará signed Matheus in January from Palmeiras, where he'd played 11 games. Previously, he had played for Botafogo, where he made 76 appearances. The club paid 7 million euros for him plus 3 million more in potential add-ons. He signed a contract until 2025 with a 300 million release clause.
Last season, he went on loan to Real Valladolid to get to grips with the Spanish league. However, he only made three appearances, two of them at the end of the season when the team were safe. He played for 166 minutes. After, he returned to Barcelona, where he has not been officially presented and trains in the hope of changing Koeman's opinion.
