Having won a domestic double this past season, Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde will arguably be wise to avoid disrupting the balance in his squad as much as possible.
The Catalan giants coasted to the La Liga title while adding the Copa del Rey to their trophy cabinet, although the campaign was tainted slightly by their Champions League exit.
One player who continued to struggle to establish himself in the line-up though was midfielder Andre Gomes, with the 24-year-old limited to just 16 La Liga appearances.
That in turn resulted in him being left out of the Portugal squad for the World Cup this summer, just two years on from playing a prominent role for club and country which earned him a €35m move to Barcelona, with a possible additional €20m in add-ons, as per BBC Sport.
As a result, an exit seems to make sense for his career in order to get back on track, and Mundo Deportivo have reported that he’s gearing towards that after ‘completely’ emptying his locker at the training ground.
It’s also suggested that his goodbye to his teammates was a permanent one in nature, and so the report does lean towards the Portuguese international leaving the Nou Camp this summer.
It remains to be seen if that materialises, but with Andres Iniesta leaving, Ivan Rakitic, Paulinho and Sergio Busquets all around the 30 mark, Valverde and Barcelona may need to think about longer-term options in midfield.
Particularly in order to compete on various fronts in the years ahead, they may need more depth if Gomes departs, but time will tell if he is indeed intending on pushing for an exit this summer.