Adama Traore: “Barcelona has always been my home. Sometimes you have to take a different path to get to the first team”

The presentation of Spanish attacker Adama Traore took place on Wednesday. The powerful player paraded himself to the fans at the Camp Nou, and also shared his emotions about the move to the club that raised him.

Adama has arrived from English Premier League side Wolverhampton. According to reports, he is on loan until the end of the season, with the right to buy for an unspecified sum, but many sources point to €30m. The player is known to have taken a cut in his monthly salary from €225k to €60k (5076296 INR) to be allowed to register by the Catalans.

The club president Joan Laporta: 

“It’s a very special day, very nice. Welcome Adama. You trained here, you were born here, Barça trained you, then you made a career abroad and you come back here so that Barça can enjoy your talent. Let a player come of La Masia at a time when we want to resurface, I want to thank you for having taken into account the situation of the club and you have made an effort , and it is appreciated. And when we can, we will always take it into account”. 

The transfer seems to be quite a success as the 26-year-old’s career has stalled, with the team stagnating and the winger himself only managing to score once in 20 games played. 

New head coach Xavi Hernandez values players who can win 1-on-1s. He said this long before he joined the club and proved it once again with his ‘flirtations’ towards Ousmane Dembele due to his natural dribbling ability (before the situation became completely disastrous). 

In Adam’s case, the correct word is not “beat” but “destroy” – Traore can be claimed to be the best in the world in 1-on-1 situations. His 7.0 dribbles per 90 minutes is the best result in the top-five leagues (and this has been repeated for a number of years). Generally, there were problems with his choice of continuation after a dribbling move, otherwise Adama would have been regarded as a clear top winger a long time ago. 

But, in general, if he gets clear instructions, he’s great – it’s just that they haven’t always been in place.

Tony Pulis said he used to deploy Adam on the nearside of the coach’s bench to give him constant guidance. Nuno Espirito Santo at Wolves was great at exposing him as a ‘joker’ – bringing him off the bench for specific missions. That worked wonderfully as well. The potential is enormous, but it has to be channeled in the right direction. 

Under the Xavi system, Traore will be responsible for width of attack – probably on the right flank. Playing one-on-one for this role is essential. The team will probably intentionally create some isolation for him. Adama, in turn, will provide two simple but important things – dribbling at a top-level and the ability to keep Ousmane Dembele in the stands for the rest of the season without regret. 

With Traore’s arrival, the Frenchman’s unique qualities have diminished dramatically. Recall that the flanking midfielder has not renewed his contract with the club, and has also turned down all offers to move in the winter – putting him in a ‘scapegoat‘ position, as well as financially screwing Barcelona (because of the huge wage bill).

• Recall that Barcelona broke their own transfer record by signing Dembele from Borussia Dortmund in 2017, the deal including add-ons was 147 million euros (then $175 million). The transfer became an absolute failure as it stands now, and now the player can leave for free this summer.

Laporta, on Ousmane and whether it has been decided that he will no longer play: 

“The coach decides, of course. And we have an option to buy Adama and we hope to do so. Going back to Dembélé, the coach will decide, it’s the coach’s decision. I do think he works for this season but for next season too and a player who will surely not be there, because there must be another club, it is more difficult for him to play, because we are rebuilding a team. And he has not wanted to renew and in this sense it is a problem that I hope will be resolved in favor of our interests and that he will not be harmed either. We haven’t understood the player’s position. We respect it but we don’t accept it, we don’t understand it”.

Moreover, let’s not forget that Adama is a Catalan and, more importantly, is a graduate of the Barcelona academy. In other words, there would clearly be no problem with the attitude and understanding of the system.

Adama, on what Xavi is asking of him:

“What he has asked of the wingers who are here is to show the talent, one on ones, overflow, unbalance, try to score goals, and several other things that he asks of us. The most important thing is to be competitive regardless of the opponent, to win and to go all out.”

The Barcelona new signing has shared his emotions after his return to the club:

“Thank the president, my family, those who have accompanied me in these 7 years abroad. I will do everything possible so that the Catalans are happy with me. And hope that from Sunday I can show my talent on the pitch play. My commitment is on the pitch, to work, to improve day by day. I’ve said that improving every day is my goal. To help the team 100% when the coach decides.”

“It is a great pleasure and a set of joys to return to what has always been my home, I spent almost 11 years here and I want to give many happiness to the fans. These are decisions and sometimes you have to take another path to get to the first team and the important thing is that I’m back, happy and excited”. 

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