Barcelona were very quiet during the winter transfer window, although not for the lack of trying. They tried to sign, but it was not possible as a departure was needed first – they attempted to move on Ansu Fati to bring in Marcus Rashford, but the former committed to staying despite not being counted on by head coach Hansi Flick.
There was a couple of operations that the club did do, albeit for youth players. In the final days of the transfer window, Barcelona confirmed that they had agreed a deal with Al-Ittihad for the sale of Unai Hernandez, who was captain of Barca Atletic. As part of that, they received €4.5m for a player that did not look like breaking into the first team anytime soon, given that Dani Olmo, Gavi, Pedri, Fermin Lopez and Pablo Torre were all ahead of him.
While it was an arrangement that made sense on the surface, it is one that was not welcomed by several members of the club’s board of directors. As reported by Cadena SER, there are those that believe Barcelona should have acted sooner to agree a new contract with Hernandez, whose deal was due to expire in the next 18 months before his exit.
Hernandez was widely recognised from within Can Barca are one of the best players in the B team. He had racked up nine goals during the first half of the season for the struggling First Federation side, although these efforts were ultimately not rewarded with a chance in the first team.
It remains to be seen whether Barcelona regret their handling of Hernandez’s situation. He will hope to develop during his time in Saudi Arabia, and a return to Europe in the future does seem inevitable, although being back in Catalonia may be tough to become a reality.
It might be for the best. He gets lots of playing time, the club make money, and it’s not unprecedented for La Masia kids to want to come back at some point.