UEFA Champions League
Malcom Drama Continues And Will Not Feature Against Tottenham
Malcom has been left out of Barcelona’s squad for their match against Tottenham on Wednesday in London.
This is the second consecutive time that Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde leaves the Brazilian out.
The 21-year-old suffered an ankle injury that left him out of action for three weeks. Despite having overcome the injury, Valverde did no call him up to the 20-man squad that will visit Wembley Stadium.
However, Valverde did include Barça B left-back Juan Miranda. In addition, Iñaki Peña will travel with the squad as the third-choice goalkeeper.
So.. What’s The Big Deal?
Though very little has been seen of Malcom at Barça, the Catalan side did go through a dramatic summer acquiring him from Bordeaux. The player appeared to headed to Serie A this past summer, but Barcelona came in with a five-year contract that he couldn’t refuse.
In addition, Barcelona compensated Bordeaux €41 million (£36.5m/$48m) for the Brazilian. Nevertheless, he was regarded as one of the best youngster in Europe with high potential.
Since returning from his injury, he’s only played in 20 minutes against Leganés. Instead, he saw no action against Athletic Club on Saturday and now will not travel with the team to London.
Everything seems to point out at Malcom falling out of favor with Valverde. Nonetheless, this isn’t the first time Valverde has singled out players as we saw this last season with Jerry Mina.
Despite this, time will tell the real reasons behind Valverde’s decision. But, a stomp against the Spurs on Wednesday may leave him on the hot seat.
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Photo credit to Dickson Dagogo via Flickr
