Deco asks Joan Laporta to offload 22-year-old Barcelona star this summer: Reports
Barcelona sporting director Deco has reportedly asked president Joan Laporta to part with Sergino Dest this summer.
The USA international was sent on a season-long loan to AC Milan last summer with an option to buy for €20 million. But according to El Nacional, they are unlikely to exercise that option and the player will return to Barca in the coming weeks.
Xavi Hernandez does not have a natural first-team right-back at his disposal but he still does not fancy Dest. Barcelona will apparently study all options pertaining to the right-back area and if no solutions arise, the 22-year-old could return to training in a bid to win Xavi's trust.
Dest's contract still has two years left on it. Barcelona played most of last season with one of Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo and Alejandro Balde playing out of position at right-back.
Sergi Roberto is an option but he started just 15 La Liga games last term — 10 times at right-back. Moreover, the 31-year-old's contract expires at the end of next season.
Dest arrived at Camp Nou in October 2020 for a fee of €21 million. He has since registered three goals and four assists in 72 games across competitions for them,
What Ronald Koeman said about Sergino Dest's situation at Barcelona
Former Barcelona defender and current Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman gave an interview to Andy van der Meijde in February 2023 to discuss his time at Barca.
The Dutchman managed Barca for 14 months before leaving in October 2021. He was the club's coach when they signed Sergino Dest from Ajax. Speaking about the right-back's situation at Barcelona, he said (h/t SPORT):
"Dest is not worse than Sergi Roberto."
Koeman was also surprised that the Almere-born centre-back was loaned to AC Milan. He added:
"I didn't understand it [Dest's move to Milan]."
Dest found playing time incredibly hard to come by at AC Milan, making just eight Serie A appearances which amounted to 324 minutes of action. I Rossoneri already had Alessandro Florenzi and Davide Calabria in their ranks for the right-back spot, which made Dest's chances all the more difficult.