Departing Barcelona star had been due to start against Real Madrid in pre-season Clasico | OneFootball

On Friday, Barcelona confirmed that Oriol Romeu had departed their United States training camp to seek a move away. The veteran midfielder is set to re-join Girona, the team he signed from last summer, on a loan deal that would include an option to buy.

Romeu had a tough 2023-24 season at Barcelona. He was signed as the “replacement” of Sergio Busquets, although he was not the top target of the sporting department. He struggled during his first few months, which caused Xavi Hernandez to bench him regularly for the second half of the campaign.

Romeu was one of many to start again under new manager Hansi Flick, and it seemed to be that he would remain at Barcelona this summer. However, the deal to re-join Girona moved quickly – so much so that Flick appeared taken aback, as he had planned to start Romeu against Real Madrid in this weekend’s El Clasico showdown in New Jersey, as per MD.

It remains to be seen whether Romeu’s departure forces Barcelona to up their efforts to sign a new pivot. They only have Ilkay Gundogan, Frenkie de Jong and Gavi as senior options – although the latter pair are currently injured. They do have Marc Casado and Marc Bernal as impressive youth options, while Andreas Christensen can also fill in when required.