Bartra moved to the Bundesliga for pocket change and peanuts in the summer.
The absence of Toby Alderweireld from the heart of the backline has hit Tottenham Hotspur hard. In the ten games he’s missed this season with injury, Mauricio Pochettino’s side have won just twice with one of those, the last-gasp 3-2 win against West Ham at White Hart Lane, almost ruined by a succession of individual defensive errors.
Kevin Wimmer’s regression means he is yet to repeat his solid, if sporadic, performances of last season while Eric Dier’s prolonged period in central midfield appears to have robbed him of his defensive instincts. Former Spurs boss Glenn Hoddle said as much in the build-up their 3-1 Champions League win against CSKA Moscow in midweek.
Therefore, it’s only natural that Spurs fans may look back at their failure to lure five-time La Liga champion Marc Bartra from Barcelona as a major transfer blunder, especially with a buyout clause in his contract putting him on the market for as little as £6.3 million, as reported by The Mirror.
In the end, Borussia Dortmund triggered the fee, signing Bartra to step into the gaping hole left by the departure of Mats Hummels to the vultures of Bayern Munich but, if their Champions League draw with Real Madrid on Wednesday is anything to go by, the 25-year-old is hardly mirrors the steadying presence of Alderweireld.
Early in the second half, Karim Benzema flashed a header into the net to put Real two to the good. Bartra, the man tasked with marking the prolific Frenchman, had barely entered shot and Benzema could barely believe his luck. Yet, non-existent marking was not the only issue with the Spaniard’s performance.
Surrounded by the white walls of the Bernabau, the former Barcelona centre-back looked caught up by the occasion, misplacing passes, suffering nervous first touches and, midway through the first half, clattered a 40 yard clearance out for a goal kick with no Real player in sight. He was rattled from the start and, with Tottenham harbouring ambitions of cup finals and title deciders in the near future, they cannot afford a defender who struggles to hand the big occasions.
Even for £6.3 million.
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