Yaya- Caught in the middle

As a part of the Barca revolution of the summer under the newly taken reins of Pep Guardiola, Seydou Keita, the Malian international, was brought in to shore up the midfield. Along with this step, Pep took it upon himself to bring up Sergio Busquets and Victor Sanchez (who got the full 90 against Athletic Bilbao today) from the youth team. While I am a huge proponent of the youth and B teams being used to mold talent for the first team, and am proud to say that no other big club in the world compares to Barcelona in this respect, the addition of these two has led to Yaya Toure being forgotten.

Yaya was the most consistent performer for the team last year by a long shot and was looked on as one who would surely stay on and play a huge part while people such as Marquez lived with question marks above their heads. But the start of the season has seen him with limited appearances though he is the only out and out holding midfielder in the team. With the attacking fluency of a team such as Barca that can easily be caught out, such a man is pivotal and very few (Mascherano, etc.) play the position better than the Ivorian. This lack of appearances has caused an outburst from the player's agent that has no doubt rattled some cages in Barcelona as they have not been denied by the player himself. The use of Busquets more than Toure seems a slap in the face as the young Spaniard, while good, still has much to learn.

With that said, the interest of Juventus is unwarranted. I know my friend Mr. West is disgusted at the thought of another midfielder (a defensive minded one at that) being added to the bianconeri stable. With the purchase of Poulsen over the summer and Sissoko in January, there is no need for the addition of Toure. Therefore here is a man caught between a rock and a hard place- a place with alot of competition for three central midfield spots and one with alot of direct competition for two central midfield spots. I personally, as a Barca fan, would not like to see such a force leave the fold when there is still so much he could offer us. But I am neither Pep Guardiola nor Txiki Begiristain nor Joan Laporta so the decision is not mine. As for Yaya, I do not envy his position and would support his decision to move on to a place where he will play more, but I would like to think he would not see the Estadio delle Alpi as the place where that can be done.