What Does Adriano's New Deal Mean for Alex Grimaldo's Barcelona Future?

Barcelona could well have cut off their nose to spite their face with the news that a new deal has been agreed for Adriano Correia.

The Brazilian was expected to be one of those fringe players to leave over the summer period and indeed, as Sport noted (via Stefan Coerts of Goal.com), the player was ready to move to Barca's first Champions League opponents of the season, AS Roma. His agent Paulo Affonso Neves was quoted as saying:

"

Roma have made a very tempting offer and Adriano feels it's time for a change.

Now is a good time to take on a new challenge and take advantage of the opportunity to play for a big Italian club like Roma.

"

It's a fairly unequivocal statement. "Adriano feels it's time for a change." So what changed?

With little prospect of getting any more minutes than previous seasons, the change of heart makes little sense.

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Unless, of course, Adriano has been given a guarantee of playing time. If that were to be the case where, does that leave Barca B captain Alex Grimaldo?

While Grimaldo is not quite the saviour of La Masia, there appears to be a feeling that the left-back could finally be the next player to make the step up to the senior team on a full time basis. And stay there.

There have been many false dawns since Pedro Rodriguez and Sergio Busquets made the step up in 2008. Each and every player who has been recruited from the academy since has been sent packing with his tail between his legs.

Grimaldo's promotion should've come as early as now, given Adriano's desire to move on, and the youngster's progression would've offered a genuine pathway to every other graduate at La Masia. It would have showed there really was a chance that if you were good enough, you would get the opportunity.

Football Espana reported Barca's sporting director Robert Fernandez as confirming: “I can say that we're more or less in agreement [with Adriano and Rafinha].”

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That simple statement has probably undone everything that the club have been working toward these last few months.

Joan Laporta in his election manifesto was clear that the current board would destroy everything that La Masia stands for. Post-election, he told Marca, (via Alec Fenn of Goal.com):

"

I wish to congratulate the winner of the election and make it clear that there are two different models of the club.

We tried to keep the club from being run by a prosecuted president, who is entirely in Qatar’s hands and will destroy La Masia, but we couldn’t.

"

Arguably, whatever the party line coming out of the club may be, the decision to renew Adriano and push Grimaldo further into the background gives some credence to Laporta's theory.

Grimaldo was the youngest-ever player to represent Barca B. His rise has been steady and well managed. He possesses all of the attributes to make his tenure in the first team a success.

It's scandalous that a player of his quality should even be having to go about his work in the third tier of Spanish football, where Barca B currently languish.

Come January, when Barcelona can open up the floodgates in terms of transfer dealings again, it's entirely possible that Grimaldo will be sent elsewhere to get some much-needed first-team experience, with a view to returning at some later stage.

Interestingly, however, that precise scenario has already opened up for both player and club but was turned down.

"

Barcelona B player Alex Grimaldo (19) has rejected a loan move to Levante, whose president had called Barcelona president Bartomeu. [rac1]

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) August 31, 2015"

RAC1 revealed details of an unsuccessful bid by Levante during the last knockings of the summer transfer window.

That would suggest Barcelona do indeed rate their reserve captain sufficiently highly to not allow one of their prized assets to be groomed for superstardom elsewhere.

But it makes Adriano's renewal decision even more baffling.