Matheus Fernandes is surely the least known player in Ronald Koeman's current squad. In fact, the club itself has been responsible for ensuring that his name is publicized as little as possible and that it appears well away from the media spotlight. So much so that it is the only signing this summer that has not yet been presented, when we have been in competition for almost two months. A situation, as strange as it is anomalous, that today the club has no intention of redirecting.
Matheus was signed by Barcelona on January 31 of this year for seven million euros plus three in variables to the Brazilian Palmeiras. He came with the label of a midfielder with a defensive vocation; in an interview he came to assure that his game was very similar to that of Sergio Busquets. The club decided to transfer it to Valladolid until the end of the season. In the Pucelano team he gave few samples of his affirmation regarding Busquets: he played three games, two as a starter and barely added 165 minutes.
In Barcelona, his step is being on tiptoe. He began the preseason in mid-August, training alongside the season's transfers and transfers – he had both members – but when the rest of the squad players rejoined, a hamstring injury separated him from the group. He came out in the photo of the Gamper presentation, despite the fact that he was already injured.
Shy and not very talkative, Matheus has taken refuge in Coutinho to adapt as soon as possible. Both offer a different image of the extroverted and talkative Brazilian who has appeared so much in the Blaugrana dressing room. “They are from the other part of Brazil, that of Rivaldo and company,” they say inside the dressing room.
Matheus has also already paid for the hazing of the new one, although almost without knowing it. When it came to choosing numbers, more or less everyone on the squad was clear that they did not want number 19, because it is known as “the covid number”. In fact, forward Martin Braithwaite spent several days looking for a way to get rid of it, until he managed to get the 9 from Luis Suárez. In principle, there were 4, 12, 19 and 25 to be distributed among three players. Ronald Araujo recalled that he had played the entire preseason with the 4 on his back, so there was no doubt about his ownership, while Riqui Puig rushed to choose the 12 that Rafinha had left free. Thus, Matheus had 19 or 25 left, but the delegate, Carles Naval, made him see that this number in Spain traditionally corresponds to a goalkeeper – its owner could be Iñaki Peña -, so he finally had to choose the damn dorsal.
Now it remains to be seen how many times we will see Matheus this season jump onto the field with the number 19. For now, the only possibility points to a presentation, which the club continues to ignore in a way as strange as it is unusual for a signing of FC Barcelona.