10 Players Who Probably Regret Joining Barcelona
6. Alex Song
Until his recent gut-wrenching move to Chelsea, Arsenal supporters had spent the last three years mourning the loss of their former captain to Barcelona. The crème of their crop, who had seemingly turned water into wine, is gone. However, there is another integral part of the Arsenal philosophy which Barcelona lured from North London the engine that is Alex Song.
Vivacious and brimming with tenacity, the Cameroonian international was a deep-lying midfielder that oozed class, poise and elegance. A step up from the likes of Mathieu Flamini and Gilberto Silva, the prolific Robin van Persie owed a lot of his goalscoring prowess to the wonderfully created chances laid on for him by the midfielder. At Arsenal since 2005, Song flourished with every season, breaking through in 2008, and never looking back.
Just what he was hoping to achieve in 2012 is anybodys guess. At 24 years old, he was a cornerstone of the Arsenal side, a bastion and pillory of the Premier League title challengers. He was a key part of what made the club tick, and despite their recent trophy woes, he was fast emerging as one of the finest midfield anchors in the league. FC Barcelona is a difficult club to turn down, not least when they offer a lucrative five year contract, but with the side boasting the holy trinity of Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andres Iniesta, where was Song going to fit?
Yaya Toure and Javier Mascherano have both excelled in the Premier League, but have been relegated to berths at centre-back for the Catalans, such was the emphasis on nurturing the prodigal Busquets.
The Cameroonian international has been used sparingly by various Barcelona managers in a difficult spell for the club, in which three managers have assumed the reigns since Guardiolas decision to leave the club. For Song, he might look at the embarrassment of riches Arsenal currently possess in attacking midfield, and that one position that needs to be filled, and yearn for Wenger to abandon his quest for Sami Khedira and instead revisit an old flame.