In a recent report, Fichajes revealed that Barcelona are locked in a three-way battle for Atletico Madrid keeper Jan Oblak, whose current contract is set to run out in the summer of 2023. It has been claimed that the Catalan giants could face competition from Bayern Munich and Juventus in pursuit of the Slovenia international during the summer transfer period.
Oblak’s Tough Campaign In Spanish Football
Oblak has experienced a difficult season at the Wanda Metropolitano but has done well to produce a handful of dominant displays at the back for Atletico over the past few months. The 29-year-old has made 35 appearances for the Spanish side during this camapign, conceding 47 goals and earning nine assists in the process across all fronts.
The Slovenian keeper is averaging 5.0 long balls per game in La Liga. He has often gone long when distributing the ball out from the back which explains why he has only completed 56.7% of his attempted passes in league football (stats via whoscored).
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What Will Oblak Bring To Barcelona?
Oblak is a solid handler of the ball and possesses excellent reflexes that allow him to make some world-class saves at the back. He can read the danger and is usually quite strong when coming out to collect loose balls and crosses inside his penalty box.
The 44-time Slovenia international is a decent shot-stopper but can sometimes give away the ball cheaply which is something that he needs to rectify if he wants to be a success story at a club like Barcelona.
The experienced goalie could help Barca get back to challenging for the league title. We can expect Oblak to bring a lot of quality to Xavi‘s first team. He could even serve as an ideal replacement for Marc-André ter Stegen if the German keeper ends up leaving the Catalan club at the end of this campaign.
With all things considered, it makes a lot of sense for Xavi to engineer a move to bring Oblak to the Nou Camp as he is a top-class keeper who would help the Catalan giants challenge for some major trophies in the coming seasons.
