In January 2004, Barça managed to get Juventus to loan Edgar Davids to balance the midfield and they did so. The Dutch midfielder was key to the runner-up finish that the Blaugrana team achieved after a bad start to the season. With the loss of Gavi, injured for a long time, Barça is thinking about putting a Davids in his life. He is looking for a physical, powerful player with character who can accompany De Jong, Gündogan or Pedri.
The solution of replacing Busquets with Oriol Romeu worked in the first games, but when Frenkie de Jong was injured, the duo fell apart and the team's performance dropped. Barça lacks that figure that provides balance in the middle, with a more physical and defensive tone, that can act ahead of the center backs with guarantees. It is necessary to be more forceful and in the squad today there is no player with Gavi's characteristics, capable of covering meters in extension, making fouls when necessary and imposing a higher pace.
It feels like someone is always missing. In his day it was Pedri or De Jong, now Gavi, but the reality is that a team is a question of balance and if details are missing it is noticeable. There are only two places that do not have a substitute with equal characteristics in this squad: Gavi and Lewandowski. But for the January market, Vítor Roque will come, the 18-year-old Brazilian who was supposed to arrive in the summer and is ahead of schedule, and the market will move to try to get a loan from a midfielder with similar skills to Gavi's, if the fair financial play allows it.
Vítor Roque cannot be an emergency solution, but he is a necessary scorer to combine with the Pole. It is understood that Xavi cannot seat Lewandowski on the bench, because he is the most effective nine he has. He has scored eight goals in the League, but the second players with the most goals in the Spanish championship are João Félix and Ferran Torres, with three. Hence the lack of consistent performance of a team that with the inclusion of the Joãos has gained in offensive capacity but needs to harmonize them in the scheme that last season led Barça to clearly win the League.
The real key is balance. The team needs compensations. He has plenty of technique and a capacity for cohesion in the midfield, but he lacks muscle. And behind him he should be able to rely on three centre-backs and only have one full-back come up to do damage in front. With a Davids in the midfield everything can fit together better. Rijkaard did well in his day. It is possible that Xavi too.
