5 Ex-Barcelona Players Who Are Having A Blast Right Now

Over the past decade, Barcelona have established themselves as the most successful team in Europe with a horde of titles and honours. The Catalans play with a certain principle and ideology that requires players of a specific kind. Not everyone who makes a move to the Camp Nou realize their dreams and have had to move away because of their failure to settle into the philosophy of the Blaugrana.

Here, we take a look at five former Barcelona players, who moved away from the club, and are enjoying a great current season:

5. Oriol Romeu

Romeu joined the famed La Masia academy from fellow Catalan club Espanyol ahead of the 2008 season. Romeu was tipped for big things in Catalonia, but he struggled to break into the first team, appearing only twice for Barca before joining Chelsea in the summer of 2011.

Five years later, Romeu is finally showing his quality at Southampton, who he joined in 2015. The departures of Morgan Schneiderlin and Victor Wanyama have helped him get a regular playing time at St. Mary’s and the Spaniard has made full use of the chances he has gotten. Romeu has been in fine form for the Saints this season, and has been one of the main reasons Southampton have been solid defensively.

Romeu has been extremely effective for Claude Puel’s side breaking up play with important tackles and interceptions, while his physicality has been very advantageous in defending set-piece situations. At 25, Romeu is approaching his peak years and could very well develop into a fine defensive midfielder.

4. Dani Alves

Dani Alves joined Barcelona in 2008 after a 6-year spell with Sevilla and soon established himself as one of the key players for the Catalans. However, after 8 hugely successful years with the club, Alves was released by Barcelona in the summer and joined Italian champions Juventus.

The right-back, known for his flair and electric pace, has made 13 appearances for the Bianconeri in the ongoing season and has impressed heavily. Alves has scored twice for Juve this term and has assisted 2 more strikes. He has been very effective going forward and has been equally solid in his defensive duties making crucial interceptions and winning aerial duels in large numbers in key areas.

Barcelona have sorely missed Alves on the right-side of the defence this season.

3. Thiago Alcantara

Another academy product, Thiago Alcantara was touted to be the man to replace legend Xavi once he moved on. However, Thiago decided to move away from Camp Nou and followed former manager Pep Guardiola to Bayern Munich in 2013.

The Spanish international has been in great form this season for Die Roten. The midfielder, who is primarily known for his excellent creativity and sublime vision, has been the German side’s creative hub this term creating more opportunities than any other player in the Bayern squad in Bundesliga. Thiago also has scored thrice for the German champions and assisted three strikes. What has been most impressive about Thiago since his move to Bayern has been the development of the defensive side of his game. He has become quite adept at breaking up plays with clever interceptions and smart tackles and can turn them into swift attacks with great ease.

He has emerged as a leader in the middle of the park under Carlo Ancelotti and will be a crucial player for the Germans for many years to come.

2. Alexis Sanchez

Sanchez joined Barcelona ahead of the 2011 season, from Italian team Udinese, despite interests from Manchester United. While he did win many trophies during his time at the Camp Nou, he never really established himself as a regular starter in the Blaugrana team and eventually after making 141 appearances over three seasons during which he scored 47 goals, the Chilean joined English club Arsenal in 2014.

And having moved to London, it did not take long for Alexis to show his tremendous quality and has become a vital cog in Arsene Wenger’s team over the past two seasons. However, this season has seen his emergence as a centre-forward and Sanchez has been nothing short of brilliant leading the line for the Gunners. He has scored 12 times in the Premier League, making him the second highest goal-scorer in the league behind Diego Costa. He has created the most number of chances for Arsenal and also has 6 assists to his name.

After having spent most of his time at Barcelona under the shadows of Lionel Messi, Sanchez has hit his peak and is showcasing his immense capabilities and prowess for the North Londoners this term.

1. Zlatan Ibrahimović

Ibrahimović arrived at Barcelona in the summer of 2009 in a big money move from Inter Milan that saw Samuel Eto’o move the other way. However, things did not go as planned for the Swede and just a season after his arrival, Ibra had to move to AC Milan despite having scored 21 goals in 45 appearances for the club, due to his differences with then-Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola.

And after enjoying successful spells with AC Milan and then with Paris Saint-Germain, Zlatan joined Manchester United in the summer for free, and has taken the Premier League by storm, in his inimitable style. Under Jose Mourinho, Zlatan has scored 17 goals in 26 appearances for the Red Devils in all competitions and has been involved in almost everything positive United have conjured up in the attacking third. At 35, Ibrahimović is still going extremely strong and it would not come as a surprise if United extend his stay at Old Trafford by another year.