Although it was placed by AS from Madrid, traditionally favoring Real, the statement that Barcelona coach Xavi could soon be faced with an extremely difficult choice between two excellent footballers makes sense. We are talking about Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha, exciting right wingers who are not enthusiastic about the idea of changing playing sides, nor being a backup for the other one. Therefore, the young strategist will most likely have to make a decision in the summer: French or Brazilian, who to keep?The mentioned newspaper reminds us of the player’s statements, Dembele’s from August 2021: “I prefer to play on the right”, and Raphinha’s from the beginning of November this year: “Yes, I asked Xavi not to play on the left”, emphasizing that it will not be easy for the former captain to choose. It was Xavi who managed to revive the career of the 25-year-old Frenchman with his trust, but Raphinha’s agent is Xavi’s former teammate and great friend, Deco. The Portuguese had a huge influence on his client choosing Barcelona, even though Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Arsenal wanted him… So how can you tell him after only one season that it would be good to look for another surrounding for your player?##NAJAVA_MECA_6911498##Last summer, Barcelona paid Leeds as much as 58,000,000 euros for the arrival of the 26-year-old Brazilian, and they certainly won’t give him up just like that. On the other hand, in 2017, 140,000,000 euros were paid to Borussia Dortmund for Dembele, while the club patiently tolerated the Frenchman’s “boy bugs” for years, and then waited for him to recover from his injury. A few months ago, it seemed that Dembele could change the club as a free agent, that’s why negotiations with Deco about Raphinha started, but Xavi managed to convince both Dembele and president Joan Laporta to find a common language and renew cooperation.Whoever has to be benched will probably ask for parting, but it will only happen if there is an adequate offer. And, according to Barcelona’s expectations, it mustn’t be a small one.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Xavi has high hopes for the French national team player, as evidenced by his minutes from the current season. Dembele spent 1,289 minutes in the game, while Raphinha collected ‘only’ 865. During that time, the Frenchman scored five and set up seven goals, while the Brazilian scored two and assisted four.The fact that Xavi usually took him out before the end of the game or introduced him from the bench does not help Raphinha. He played the entire match only once, although Dembele cannot boast of being irreplaceable either. He was on the field just a little more, three times, from the beginning to the end of the game.Barring any surprise, either Dembélé or Raphinha will leave Barça in the summer. One will leave, and the other will stay.— @diarioas pic.twitter.com/0t3u2dxA4c— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) December 27, 2022 In the opening part of the season, Xavi tried to use them simultaneously in the team, changing their positions, but except against objectively weaker rivals than Barcelona, it did not bring the desired effect. Not in matches against Bayern (0-2, 0-3), Inter (0-1, 3-3) or Real (1-3). As time went on, it became increasingly clear that there was no place for both of them in the starting line-up.Although he is in a subordinate position according to the minutes so far, Raphinha could push Dembele’s poor performance at the last World Cup in Qatar to the fore. The Frenchman was awful in the final clash with Argentina, so Didier Deschamps replaced him even before halftime. There have been examples in the past where Dembele has shown that he is not as strong psychologically as he is with the ball at his feet, so the question is how recent events will affect him. In the absence of a large number of injured players, he was expected to be among the attacking players of Les Bleus, but two assists – namely in the first round of the group stage against Australia (4-1) and Poland in the round of 16 (3-1) – could not be something for the Frenchman to brag about.⚽️ Most Goals/ Assists for Barca this season (22/23) so far:⚽️ Most goals scored:🇵🇱 Lewandowski (18)🇫🇷 Ousmane Dembélé (5)🇪🇸 Ferran Torres (5)🇪🇸 Ansu Fati & Pedri (3)🎯 Most Assists: 🇫🇷 Ousmane Dembélé (7)🇧🇷 Raphinha (4)🇵🇱 Lewandowski (4)🇫🇷 Kounde & Ansu Fati (3) pic.twitter.com/WuWdCHObGR— Sholy Nation Sports (@Sholynationsp) December 21, 2022 It cannot be said that Raphinha was much better, because – apart from the match against Switzerland – he did not play another game at a high level. But the Brazilian has as an alibi within the fact that the entire Selecao team failed and disappointed with elimination in the quarterfinals.Certainly, both of them are bound to Barcelona by contracts – in Dembele’s case until the summer of 2024 while Raphinha’s for three years longer – so they don’t have to worry about being chased away. However, a backup role is certainly not something they are hoping for, so they will have to do their best to convince Xavi that they have the quality to be Barcelona’s first-choice right winger.
