Barcelona news: Adama Traore shows Tottenham what they’re missing with mesmerising debut | Football | Sport
It took Adama Traore just 21 minutes to assist Gavi on his return to Barcelona and his breathtaking first-half performance against Atletico Madrid has shown Tottenham exactly what they’re missing. The flying Spaniard looked to be heading for north London when Spurs entered talks with Wolves in the January window but after haggling over a final fee, Barcelona seized the initiative and moved to conclude a deal quickly.
Just 45 minutes into Adama’s first game back the move already looks like a masterstroke from Xavi.
After being involved in the equaliser – a stunning curling volley from Jordi Alba – it was Adama’s turn to switch on the afterburners.
Taking delicate touches to tease Mario Hermoso, the jet-heeled winger left his marker behind before teeing up Gavi to head home.
Adama was causing Atletico all kinds of problems with his speed and crossing to the delight of the Nou Camp crowd.
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Just 45 minutes into Adama’s first game back the move already looks like a masterstroke from Xavi.
After being involved in the equaliser – a stunning curling volley from Jordi Alba – it was Adama’s turn to switch on the afterburners.
Taking delicate touches to tease Mario Hermoso, the jet-heeled winger left his marker behind before teeing up Gavi to head home.
Adama was causing Atletico all kinds of problems with his speed and crossing to the delight of the Nou Camp crowd.
He was clearly playing with a smile on his face after failing to provide an assist in his last 29 matches for Wolves.
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague was mesmerised by Adama’s first-half display, tweeting: “Adama (exploding head emoji). I can’t remember in recent times a debutant player that in half-hour had affected a game so much (assist on the second) and had forced a team to change positions of rivals.
“Carrasco moved to the left to help Koke and specially Mario Hermoso to try to stop him!”
Adama now looks set to be handing a starting berth on the wing under Xavi, having previously been in and out of the Wolves side under Bruno Lage and in Nuno Espirito Santo’s final season at Molineux.
The 26-year-old is said to have had reservations about potentially playing wing-back under Antonio Conte at Tottenham.
Spurs were looking to elevate Adama’s game to the next level by playing to his strengths.
Under the coaching of Conte, Victor Moses and Archaf Hakimi were widely recognised as the best of their kind in their respective divisions when playing at wing-back for the Italian.
Now there is confidence Adama can fulfil his potential in an attacking sense at Barcelona, where he has already made quite the impact.
