In the history of Barca in the 21st century, it seems that it is a story that happens from time to time when the youth players leave the Premier League and return after several years of training. But for Traore, who came to La Masia at the age of 8, there are too many differences. He wasn't Pique, Fabregas, or Garcia, and he had tried too hard to get back to Camp Nou. 70% pay cut! A violent winger who can pass every 12.5 minutes, puts on the red and blue shirt again with a dream.
01. Joined La Masia at age 8: a 70% pay cut in order to return!
Although the style of the ball is too straight, Traore is a red-rooted La Masia culture. As immigrants from Mali, Traore's parents came to Barcelona early to settle down. He was born in the city and joined the La Masia Academy at the age of 8. His older brother was 2 years older than him and, because of his lack of talent, could only go to espanyol to grow up in the youth academy.
From a very young age, Traore's attitude in training has been recognized by the people around him, and he can even forget his birthday and just want to play football. In 2014, he won the Junior Champions League for Barca U19 and made a successful appearance in The Bundesliga for Barca B. In 2015, after scoring his first-team debut from Barca, he joined Aston Villa in the Premier League for a transfer fee of €12 million (with the same amount of buyback terms). He didn't get trust there, but then gained a foothold after moving to Middlesbrough, proving himself in the Premier League, and then delivering five goals and 10 assists in the full Championship season that followed, as well as the stats of the passing champion (the number of successful players doubled the number 2 in the top table). This won him over Wolves in the Premier League, bringing him back to the Premier League with the highest transfer fee in the team's history.
In the past few years, he has been a landscape in the Premier League, and although he is not good at passing, he can break through the defenses of Manchester City and Liverpool to doubt life. He doesn't seem to have any hobbies other than football. He doesn't have a girlfriend at the moment, and he can even spend the whole day in the gym when he's not playing.
What is even more rare is that Traore is very low-key in life. After receiving an annual salary of 2.4 million euros in the Premier League, he did not buy a luxury car and a mansion, and still lived an ordinary life. This time, when Barca found him and was willing to give him the opportunity to return, Trare even gave up 70% of his annual salary and accepted an offer from the Red and Blues for only 350,000 euros for half a year's salary, allowing himself to return to Camp Nou and successfully pass the registration.
02. Fast + strong: Super MeatTan can't even stop him in the Premier League
Despite his height, Traore is really, very strong, and this is outstanding in the Muscle Forest of the Premier League. This time back at Camp Nou, the larger Traore became more prominent.
Once he broke the ball after knocking over Mendy in a game against Manchester City, completed a key assist, and let Manchester City be upset by Wolves. At that time, Mendy was still a player who Guardiola trusted very much, and his physical fitness was the top in the entire world football world.
Looking at this season's Premier League, this time facing Van Dijk, Traore once again made a strong attack, first physical confrontation, and then suddenly grabbed the ball. If it weren't for Huang Xican's lack of strength, Traore might have been able to help Wolves win Liverpool (Wolves' stoppage time kill also happened just a few minutes after Traore was replaced). Even if Van Dijk's physical fitness has declined after returning from injury, how many players can really face Van Dijk in the Premier League?
During the Barca youth training era, Traore had the nickname of "La Masia Bolt", and in the past 2 years, because of his low speed rating in the game, Traore even joked that he should sprint with the new Bolt Bibi.
Over the past few seasons, many of Traore's Premier League goals have come from bursts that accelerate into the penalty area. His shot, though lacking in some variations, was really unstoppable once the shot was smooth.
His first personal goal in the Premier League this season was also used to force the Southampton defender with speed, and then scored in front of the attacking goalkeeper.
Traore can actually shoot with both his left and right feet, but the biggest problem with his shots is that he only jerks violently. This time Fabio created chaos after a beautiful pass, and Traore faced most of the empty goal but shot directly with his left foot. This shot happened less than 2 minutes before he scored his debut goal of the season.
In the past three and a half seasons, Trarre's report card in the Premier League, in addition to being more prominent in the 2019-20 season, is a "superhuman" image.
03. He is changing his image of "passing the dead": he is gradually learning to cooperate with his teammates
As can be seen from the statistics, Traore is the top of the five major leagues to advance with the ball every 90 minutes this season (red), as well as the number one in the number of people (blue). And in terms of dribbling, except for St. Maximan and Soleimani who can approach him (still 15%-20% less), the gap is huge.
Traore's advantage is that both feet can touch the ball when carrying the ball, and at the same time, it can also accelerate with a second force during the dribbling process. This time he broke through Liverpool's defense, which can be said to be very easy, but unfortunately, the last score Nuri was a bit too big.
Looking at this offensive and defensive transition, Traore, who played as a striker, retreated to his own side to participate in the defense at half-time, and he dominated the counterattack after the break. Liverpool midfielder Thiago's tackle was dodged by him, tearing the defence from the flanks in an instant. Traore has been trying to work more with his teammates now, and this time moving the far end after a slam is also a classic example. Relatively speaking, the pass was not good enough (this ball is still Arnold's defense fast, the pass is actually not bad), this time it was intercepted by Arnold, and the opportunity to send a quasi-single knife to his teammates was lost.
Now Traore is no longer the player who can only bury his head, he knows how to pass teammates, and he will also hit the wall to cooperate. This time, after advancing, he went straight to Willian Jose, and then inserted himself into the box for a second time, but unfortunately the last long-range shot was too positive.
One big change for Barca this season is that the number of crosses from the team has increased considerably. However, it should be noted that Barca's cross is not simply a high ball from the outside, many of them are suppressed as a whole, and the pass is sent to the inside line on the flank of the penalty area. Judging from La Liga statistics, Barca's cross point is still closer to the core area.
Like Dembele, Traore has a strong ability to have the ball and suppress the opponent's side, and he is not blindly accelerating now, knowing how to dunk and change the rhythm, and it is no accident that he has assisted 9 times in the Premier League in a single season and 12 assists in the whole season.
Even if the cross can't find a teammate directly, Barca's control of the second drop point can give him a chance. United were 1-0 by Wolves because Traore pressed Luke Shaw to send a cross, giving Moutinho a second-point shot.
epilogue:
As a young man who debuted in La Masia, he spent 11 years here. Returning after 6 1/2 years away, Traore certainly doesn't want a loan contract of only half a year. Will he spend those 4 months letting Harvey and the Red and Blues buy him out? Perhaps in Mendes' plan, Traore and Trincon had exchanged owners.