Let's hope Douglas isn't another Henrique or Keirrison
Hardly anyone understands the signing of Douglas.
I don't say that because of the price (€4million plus €1.5m more in variables) but because he is a player totally unknown in Europe, because he is not a promising youngster (he's 24), because the company Traffic (yes, the same one associated with Henrique and Keirrison) own 40 percent of his rights and because Barcelona have missed out on a star such as Cuadrado to incorporate a player that will be back-up to Alves and Montoya.
Zubizarreta will have to explain this signing to the socios really well. It seems difficult to think that this right-back (who was embarrassed by an old Ronaldinho a year ago in a match between Sao Paulo and Atletico Mineiro), who is not an international with Brazil, can replace Alves. And it would be even worse if he halted Montoya's progression.
The story of the signing of Douglas Pereira Dos Santos seemes to similar to those of Henrique and Keirrison, two young players that Barça bought from Palmeiras for €24m - neither made it at the club. Henrique was signed for €10m in 2008 and Keirrison joined the following summer for another €14m. Both belonged to Traffic...
Henrique, a central defender, didn't play a single game for Barça and went on loan after loan (Bayer Leverkusen, Racing Santander, Palmeiras) until he left for Napoli. Keirrison, a striker, didn't play for Barça either, going on loan to Benfica, Fiorentina, Santos and Cruziero until he moved to Curitiba.
Let's hope that Douglas' career doesn't follow the same path. For his sake and for the sake of Barça.
