Does Sergino Dest have a future at Barcelona?
Martin Macdonald
- 24 Feb 2022 20:05 GMT
- 3 min read
One Barcelona player who has never been far away from criticism this campaign is Sergino Dest.
The Catalan giants signed Dest from Ajax for a fee believed to be in the region of €21m plus €5m in add-ons in the summer of 2020.
He would flourish on occasion under Ronald Koeman, particularly as a wing-back in the Dutchman's 3-4-3 formation whenever it was deployed.
However, over the last year he has regressed and in 2021/22 has received negative responses to his performances bITH offensively and defensively.
Previously the first choice right-back, Dest had to suffer the ignominy of losing his place to the 38-year-old returning Dani Alves.
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In the January transfer window, he was linked with moves to both Bayern Munich and Arsenal, only for no move to materialise.
It seemed that the writing was on the wall in regards to his Barcelona future, but recent praise from new head coach Xavi suggests Dest might stick around at Camp Nou.
"Everyone is improving," Xavi said after Barcelona's impressive 4-1 away victory at Valencia.
"Let's take Sergino as an example. When we got here, he wasn't doing so well, but now he is doing great.
"I thought he was spectacularly good [against Valencia], both with the ball and without it. I am really happy with his progress."
A new opportunity for Dest
At the beginning of the year, Dest was left out of the squad entirely for Barcelona's Super Cup fixture against Real Madrid.
However, a two-match ban for Alves has meant that he has the opportunity to impress again as he has started three out of the last four in the Primera Division.
With Alves not in the squad for the Europa League, either, Dest will likely feature at right-back for however long Barca are in the tournament.
ESPN reports that sources close to the player believe that Xavi has not yet seen the best of the player and that he could be a major asset to the squad when fully fit.
Fitness has indeed been an issue for Dest over the last 12 months as he has had a few niggling injuries and has previously been asked to play through the pain.
A positive Covid test also hampered his development.
