For Sergiño Dest it has not been an easy last six months, from losing Lionel Messi as a teammate, to the sacking of Ronald Koeman, the man who brought him to Barcelona, to the scrutiny of a Catalan press who seemed to hit him at every turn. Even Xavi pointed out flaws in Dest’s game and it seemed that the former Ajax man was on the outs at Barcelona.
Even from afar one can say that the brunt of the “Anti-Dest” hate was a bit too much, Dest was just one of many players underperforming at Barcelona. Yet it would seem that the American was the target of all of the club’s ills, from his poor position play to his lack of marking, the one thing that was left out was his nationality it would seem. As time progressed a cashless Barcelona seemed to be trying to convince their fanbase that Dest, a player with a 30-million-euro transfer buyout, had to go in order to get funds, Barcelona would only sell Dest, not even considering loans.
Dest is not without his flaws, he did underperform but no worse than the rest of his teammates and if one looks at Dest’s season, he has played 17 games and has 3 assists, he only missed 9 matches, 3 as an unused sub, 5 for injury, and 1 for coronavirus. Dest has started 4 of his last 5 games with his performances against Valencia and Athletic de Bilbao as some of the best games he has played this season.
Xavi praises Sergiño Dest
Sergino Dest of FC Barcelona (Photo By Marc Graupera Aloma/Europa Press via Getty Images)
After the Bilbao game, head coach Xavi finally gave the American his due, “Sergiño Dest is at a high level, he shows that he has level of Barça” was what the coach echoed. For Dest it has been bow your head, take the heat and show it on the pitch, which he has done as of late playing with a confidence that once had Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea taking a look at the American when he was at Ajax.
Since Sergiño Dest has returned to the line-up Barcelona has not lost, and for the American it is a confirmation that he can play for such an elite club. More so, it is a confirmation that he can play well even for a coach who may not have seen any value in him at first. Is this the start of a long relationship between Barcelona, Xavi, and Dest? That remains to be seen. Barcelona is under huge economic pressure and at this moment having one of their best commodities in the transfer market playing well is a much bigger plus than throwing him under the bus and pushing him out.
