Oriol Romeu will officially be a Girona player in the next few hours. The Blaugrana midfielder left the United States training camp to immediately join his former team, although the operation should be finalised in the next few hours. There is a verbal agreement, but Barça and Girona will have to agree on the price of the player’s purchase option for next season, a figure that could be very low since he would only have one year left on his contract.
Oriol Romeu’s departure was motivated by the player’s desire to have more prominence. Hansi Flick did not pose any problems for his continuity and was satisfied with his work, but he was not going to guarantee him quality minutes this season. Faced with the possibility of spending another year on the bench, Oriol has preferred to leave even at a loss of some money as he prioritizes feeling good in terms of his sporting performance.
Barça signed Oriol Romeu as a low-cost solution for the pivot. It was an express request from Xavi Hernández after his great year at Girona and because of his Blaugrana past. Oriol started out playing a lot of minutes, but his participation gradually faded away until he was practically out of the rotation.
He was the only pure defensive pivot with a first-team jersey, so Barça will now evaluate what to do in that position. The Blaugrana club is focusing all its efforts on offensive positions although Deco has always wanted to bring in a top-level pivot to improve the team. For now, Flick prefers to see the youngsters in action and it would not be surprising if the club were to make a commitment until January.
