The $28 million player who targeted coach Xavi for his departure from Barcelona

Over the last few years Barcelona have had serious financial problems that prevented them from competing with other giants in Europe. In several transfer windows the club's previous chiefs made bad decisions and spent a lot of money on players that did not deliver the expected results. Many of them left soon after, for much less than the club had paid for them.

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Two of the most important examples are Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembélé. Both arrived in 2017 to replace Neymar Junior, who had been transferred to Paris Saint-Germain for a record $240 million. The Brazilian midfielder arrived from Liverpool for $146 million and left 5 years later for Aston Villa for less than $25 million. And for the French winger they paid more than $170 million, but he left for PSG last summer for $55 million.

However, they are not the only examples. In 2020 Los Blaugranas bought Sergiño Dest, an American defender with Dutch roots who excelled at Ajax. At the time, they paid almost $30 million to add him, with the expectation that he would become the team's new right-back for many years to come, replacing the legendary Dani Alves.

But after two seasons in which he played 72 games and scored 3 goals, Dest lost his place in the team by decision of coach Xavi Hernandez. And in the summer of 2022 he was loaned to AC Milan, where he did not show convincing performances either. That is why last summer, on his return to Spain, he was again rejected by the manager. Now he is on loan at PSV Eindhoven, where he has played 20 games and scored one goal.

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What will happen to him?

In the Eredivisie Sergiño Dest has recovered his best level and that is why some believe that next summer he deserves a new opportunity in Barcelona. However, he does not believe this will happen. During an interview with Voetbal International, Dest was asked about this and his answer was clear: "Xavi is still there. So no, at the moment it will be too difficult." It seems that Dest is not confident in changing the coach's mind.