What Does Jeremy Mathieu Bring to the Barcelona Side?

Barcelona have addressed their weakness in the defensive department, with the Catalan club bringing in French centre-back Jeremy Mathieu from Valencia for a fee of £16 million. Mathieu becomes the third summer signing of the club, with Marc Andre ter Stegen and Luis Suarez being brought in to the club before him.

Barcelona have addressed their defensive issues by signing Jeremy Mathieu

Strengths

Mathieu is a centre-back who is experienced in the Spanish league, having made a total of 129 appearances for Valencia before signing with Barcelona. Not only is Mathieu experienced in La Liga, he has also played plenty of matches in the Europa League with Valencia against some tough opponents, and he has also represented his international country France twice. His experience will be vital for a relatively young and inexperienced Barcelona defense.

Mathieu's passing is one of the biggest positives of his game, as he is comfortable on the ball and will seamlessly fit in to a side whose style is heavily based around the retention of possession. Last season, Mathieu's pass success rate was 83%, which is significantly lower than Javier Mascherano's 89% or Gerard Pique's 90%, but we must also keep in mind that he wasn't playing alongside the likes of Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquests or Xavi Hernandez.

Jeremy Mathieu averaged around 10 defensive actions per game last season with Valencia, bettering Gerard Pique's and Marc Bartra's averages from last season. The stats prove that he is a fine defender, and one that Barcelona have been crying out for a couple of seasons now.

Weaknesses

Mathieu's age is a certainly a worrying prospect for Barcelona fans, as the French international is currently 30 years old, meaning he won't be at Camp Nou for as long as they would've hoped. 

A weak part of Mathieu's game is his concentration, which will sometimes be lost during a critical phase in a game. His disciplinary record from last season shows that sometimes he can lose his concentration and make rash decisions, leading him to get booked 7 times in the league last season and sent off once. He will need to improve this aspect of his game if he wants to be a role model to the younger defenders at Barcelona like Bartra.

Overall

Overall, in my opinion, signing Jeremy Mathieu was really necessary for Barcelona in this transfer window. Ever since Puyol's injury problems and retirement, Barcelona have lacked leadership, composure and organisation at the back, something which was apparent to see last season. Although he is not the defender many people would have hoped for, after being linked with the likes of Marquinhos, David Luiz and Daniel Agger for so long, Barcelona have gotten themselves a quality experienced centre-back who will undoubtedly improve their 'leaky' defense as they prepare their title hunt for next season.

Article written by Mayank Tiwary. Twitter: @VanPerseing