As per the latest reports, Xavi doesn't count on Sergino Dest and would like to replace him with Villarreat's right-back Juan Foyth.
Barcelona clearly have a problem at right-back, otherwise, they wouldn't have signed 39-year-old Dani Alves last season.
However, would replacing Foyth with Dest improve the team? Let's see what the stats suggest.
Foyth vs Dest in defence
Foyth's defensive stats
As you can see, the 24-year-old's defensive numbers are quite impressive. Juan is one of the best in the world when it comes to aspects like pressures (17.74), tackles (3.63) and aerial duels (2.26).
Dest's defensive stats
The American, on the other hand, is far from reliable when it comes to defence. His pressures (14.47) and tackles (2.40) numbers are somewhat decent, but even there Foyth beats him.
Foyth vs Dest in possession
Foyth's possession numbers
Villarreal don't necessarily play the most attack-oriented football in the league, so this might take a toll on Juan's numbers. The only respectable numbers here are pass completion (82.7%) and dribbles completed (0.99).
Dest's possession numbers
Sergino beats his rival in every single stat when it comes to possession. The youngster is one of the top right-backs in the world in terms of pass completion (87.6%), progressive carries (8.55), and dribbles completed (2.22).
Foyth vs Dest in attack
Foyth's attacking numbers
The Argentine is definitely not the right-back that you want in the opposite area. Foyth doesn't break into the 50 percentile in any of the presented stats.
Dest's attacking numbers
The 21-year-old is not perfect going forward, but he has some decent stats. What the Barca right-back really excels at is non-penalty expected goals (0.10) and same stat combined with expected assists (0.23). Dest beats Foyth in everything except actual goals (0.00 vs 0.03).
Conclusion
Foyth is a better defender, Dest is a superior attacker and one of the best dribblers among fullbacks.
If Foyth comes, Xavi could use him as an inverted right-back. Pep Guardiola uses Kyle Walker like this at Man City. This would allow our right winger and left-back to worry less about defending, thus making his addition to the team a net positive.
