In a surprise move, FC Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has set his sights on versatile FC Basel defender Taulant Xhaka to solve Los Cules’s problems in the right-back position. Xhaka, the brother of Arsenal midfielder Granit, could be available for between €20 million and €25 million.
Right now, Barcelona have two options to use at the right-back position – Sergi Roberto and Aleix Vidal. Roberto has been used there more often, but it is clear that he is not a full-back. He has put in some terrific performances, but if Barca are to achieve continued success, they need to ensure that a regular right-back plays at the position and not a midfielder who has been put there.
Vidal is more a wing-back than Roberto is, but for some or the other reason, he has not been able to force his way into Luis Enrique’s plans. He played his best game in a Barca shirt in La Blaugrana’s 4-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Champions League last week, but in the league game against Osasuna in the weekend, Roberto came straight back into the team.
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Taulant Xhaka is a versatile player, much like Roberto and Vidal, but one who is more used to playing at right-back than either Roberto or Vidal. In his biggest tournament so far – Euro 2016 – he played in midfield for Albania. But that was more to do with their lack of options in the middle of the pitch than Xhaka’s proficiency in the position.
Taulant has played 17 games for Basel in the Swiss Super League, missing only one game for the runaway league leaders. In addition, he played every minute of the Swiss champions’ ill-fated Champions League campaign, in which they finished bottom of the group. They didn’t even make the Europa League, as Ludogorets finished third in their group, behind Arsenal and Paris St. Germain.
But his defensive work in the Champions League cannot be questioned. He made 2 successful tackles per 90 minutes and 2.3 successful interceptions in the same metric. To put it into perspective, N’Golo Kante of Chelsea has 2.75 successful interceptions and 1.88 successful tackles per 90 minutes in the Premier League.
So there is a certain amount of justification that Enrique can have in making a bid for Xhaka, but the step up from the Swiss League to being the first choice right-back at Barcelona is massive and one that the 25-year-old elder Xhaka brother has got the capability of making.
