André Gomes, the star signing of Barça who was swallowed by the pressure of Camp Nou

BarcelonaJorge Mendes already did well with Barça a decade ago. The Portuguese super-agent, today the representative of the best Barça player, Lamine Yamal, was a key player in facilitating the signing, at the end of July 2016, of one of the most coveted midfielders in the League. He belonged to Valencia and stood out for his vertical and elegant play. He was also seen as one of the most attractive footballers in the competition. At 23 years old, André Gomes arrived to conquer the world. He chose Barcelona after Real Madrid pursued him for weeks. Just like Rodrigo Hernández these days, he left the white club disappointed when he decided to make the move to end up at the Camp Nou.

The operation that dressed André Gomes in blaugrana was for 35 million euros fixed and 20 variable. There were so many expectations in his talent that one of the agreed-upon bonuses depended on whether the footballer won the Ballon d'Or. Unfortunately, however, his performance at Luis Enrique's Barça was so discreet that he was never in contention to win it. And that despite the Asturian coach's efforts for him to shine. Initially, he insisted on making him a starter, but as the matches went by, he ended up trusting other midfielders. In the first of his only two seasons as a Culer, André Gomes played in 47 matches and scored three goals. In the second, he dropped to 30 appearances, mostly as a substitute, and publicly admitted, in an interview with the magazine Panenka, that he had mental health problems. At that moment, the Camp Nou stopped whistling him.

The Portuguese player went on loan in the summer of 2018 to Everton, who acquired him a year later for 25 million. A great deal for the Catalan club, but not so much for the English one, which two years ago gave him away to French club Lille, where Gomes completed two and a half seasons before arriving in Major League Soccer in February of this year. He never won any club titles away from Barça, but he has been able to build a career in major European leagues. Now, at 33 years old, he plays for Columbus Crew in Ohio. A few days ago, he played the full 90 minutes in a draw against Inter Miami of Leo Messi and Luis Suárez.