Barcelona's Aleix Vidal's Underwhelming Spell

He arrived with the echoes of the 2015 Treble resonating, having been key in that Europa League triumph for Sevilla against Dnipro, and as a expressed desire of Luis Enrique, even though he couldn't play until January 2016. And probably he will leave three years after FC Barcelona with more shadows than lights but a good collection of titles.

Aleix Vidal has missed out on the Champions League, but he has won 2 La Ligas, 3 Copa del Reys and 1 Spanish Supercup in this time. Although at this point we still don't know if he came to play as a right back, as a winger, or what has been the problem for him to succeed at Camp Nou.

In the first season, his inactivity was talked about, like Arda Turan, and he didn't have a place in a team that was functioning perfectly well, where Dani Alves was an indisputable starter. No right back was signed in 2016 after his departure, but Sergi Roberto took away all his chances of being a starter, performing much better in a complex position. In fact, it was in the autumn of 2016 when Luis Enrique, who had requested him a year earlier, condemned him to several months of ostracism that no one understood.

When he started to lift his head again, he got injured in Vitoria due to a tackle from Theo Hernández, and he missed out on what would have been his big night, as the suspension of the aforementioned Sergi Roberto gave him the numbers to be a starter in last year's Copa del Rey final against Deportivo Alavés.

This season, under Ernesto Valverde, we have mainly seen him as a right winger, scoring 2 goals in 25 matches, after not convincing at all as a right back in the Spanish Supercup against Real Madrid in August. That was his last big chance to succeed in the position he had been signed for, but he floundered. He had minutes during Ousmane Dembélé's long injury layoff, but that ended with the return of the Frenchman. Now he will seek a dignified exit to a team where he can be competitive again.