Nelson Semedo was until lately a predetermined part of the furniture at the Camp Nou. Last summer FC Barcelona warded off interest in their Portuguese celebrity, the right-back was deemed crucial to the job of Ernesto Valverde and offers for his transfer would not be entertained. As one of the primary members of the squad in terms of minutes played he began the current 2019/2020 season as an essential part of the team. But 23 of them into a La Liga clash with Celta Vigo in the start of November, the 26-year-old was forced off with a calf injury and made to spend five months on the sideline. Thrown to the lion’s den at El Clasico mid-December, the Benfica man evidently struggled to include the likes of Isco in a 0-0 draw. Because of his side’s next experience and last of 2019 – a 4-1 win over Alaves that guaranteed the Blaugrana finished the year unbeaten on home soil and atop the Spanish league table – he was dropped by Valverde in favour of Sergi Roberto on a return to fitness from the previously-sick midfield pivot Sergio Busquets. A Catalan graduate of the La Masia academy, it is Roberto’s re-emergence for a full-back which has seemingly thrust Semedo’s future into an exclusive report from SPORT’s Tomas Andreu. According to Andreu, when travelling on December 29th to Dubai as part of an FCB delegation that witnessed the Globe Soccer Awards, director of football Eric Abidal and the player’s agent Jorge Mendes met to talk the predicament of Semedo. Organized by Mendes, which resulted in his customer Cristiano Ronaldo receiving the Player gong, Abidal took advantage of an opportunity. They were. While Barcelona needs to raise a close $140mn by the summer to avoid going into the red, Mendes would earn a commission in any possible sale, and Semedo would also favor first-team football. As touched on briefly, a series of suitors came in the preseason for its number 2, with Atletico Madrid keen to involve him at a part-exchange deal for Antoine Griezmann and chief among them. Opting for Kieran Trippier instead, that has been a revelation in the Spanish capital, it is understood that the source of income will come in the ex-Spurs man’s native England and the Premier League. Aaron Wan-Bissaka has not hit the floor running there as expected, Manchester United, with whom Mendes maintains excellent relations, is a destination and the $72mn signing that wishes to succeed Trippier in the England team could be pushed by Semedo. Offers of $55mn place to be amused by Barça, they can be convinced in banking on the continuing improvements of a participant already in their books in Emerson. Currently impressing on loan at Real Betis, the Brazilian recently made a senior international by Tite may be remembered for a fee of $13.4mn.
