Gomes and Suarez seek to lift the burden on Barca front three

For the last two seasons, Barcelona’s reliance on their famous offensive trident has not been questioned nor highlighted as a particularly negative facet of Luis Enrique’s very successful tenure as Blaugrana boss. 

Last campaign, the trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar chipped in with a total of 90 goals between them in La Liga as Barca lifted the title, with the latter offering the lowest contribution of the three with an impressive 24 strikes across the domestic campaign - but all three avoided long-term injuries and registered over 30 top-flight appearances apiece.

When the trident is fit and healthy, Barca have nothing to fear, but the club’s fourth-top goalscorer last season ominously came in the form of energetic midfielder Ivan Rakitic, who notched a mere seven, a statistic which pales in comparison. Barcelona have chosen to be pro-active with their summer transfer policy as a result, rather than waiting for everything to break down and fall apart as a result of an injury to one of their key men, as the nervy end to last season showed the Blaugrana what can happen if the wheels temporarily fall off at a key moment of the campaign.

Denis Suarez has been drafted back into the frame after a spell at Villarreal that included a Barcelona buy-back clause, while the Catalan giants opted to swoop in and pick up Valencia’s Andre Gomes for a fee that is rumoured to have the potential to reach around 60 million euros. While these two signings may push Rafinha and Arda Turan into the shadows, with the latter registering a lowly 6.73 WhoScored average rating after a move from Atletico Madrid, Enrique suddenly has a greater depth of creativity and drive in deeper areas of the field.

Even Andre Gomes managed to register a better rating than Turan last season (6.94), despite struggling with injuries and also playing in the unstable circus that has been Valencia for the last season-and-a-half, before managing a similar 6.90 rating with Portugal at Euro 2016, where the ex-Benfica man was mostly struggling for fitness. Gomes can offer results in a deeper role off Barcelona’s front three, as he is capable of beating a man to then lead his side to have more favourable man-to-man ratios in the final third. As shown in the European Championship, he can also be deployed out on the flank to give him license to drift in and cause problems by initiating interplay around the penalty area.

The Portugal international completed an average of 1.7 dribbles per La Liga match last season, as well as winning an average of 1.5 free-kicks per game, setting him up to be a slippery customer who will seek to break opposition lines as a key driving force. To put that in Barca context, only Messi and Neymar completed more dribbles, with Andres Iniesta his next-closest rival with 1.5. During a bittersweet Euro 2016 for the Portuguese star, he still managed to chip in 1.6 key passes per appearance for the Selecao despite niggling injuries, showing his eye for a neat pass into teammates in and around the box - something that could aid another staggering goalscoring campaign for Luis Suarez.

Another Suarez, Denis, is also an interesting option for Enrique to cast his eye over in pre-season, given that the young Spaniard enjoyed an excellent 2015/2016 campaign on the left-hand side of Villarreal’s midfield four. The ex-Sevilla loanee is a worthy replacement for Neymar when required, given that he registered a 7.16 rating as a left winger and chipped in with two goals and four assists in 19 league appearances from that position, as well as an important strike in the Europa League to boot.

The worrying statistic may well be, however, that Denis may struggle to offer catalysing performances from the bench, after a 6.4 rating for the Yellow Submarine on the 8 occasions he was introduced into league games later on by Marcelino.

Denis possesses the same willingness as Andre Gomes to either drift in or drive forward and carry his team upfield, registering 1.2 dribbles per match, but the Spaniard can also look to provide for those alongside him or ahead of him, depending on whether Enrique views his skill set to be better suited to wide areas or occasionally more centrally. That much was highlighted by his 1.4 key passes per La Liga game last season and in a tally of 7 Europa League assists - the most in the tournament last season.

The prodigal son’s form earned him a place in Spain’s reserve list for the European Championship in France, and he certainly won’t have returned to Camp Nou without having ambitions of building upon that achievement, with the biggest positive of his decision to rejoin the Blaugrana perhaps being the huge point that he has to now prove to any previous doubters.

Despite a potential outlay of over a combined 60 million euros for the duo, Barcelona have secured themselves two vibrant individuals who have the potential to grow into real stars, with both summer recruits being at the still-impressionable age of 22. With La Masia’s conveyor belt of talent failing to spit out stars with regularity of late, this season presents itself as a huge opportunity for both to secure themselves a long-term place within an already strong Barcelona side.

Barca teams under Enrique have been capable of a frightening directness that can prove to overwhelm even the best defences in the Spanish top flight, with both Denis and Andre Gomes having the skill sets and technical ability required to make game-defining contributions when their notorious front three have rare off days.

Often last campaign, when things weren’t going right, it was tough to see how many truly positive changes Enrique could make from the sidelines. Now, there are at least two more creative columns to help support or even one day replace the unfathomable talents of Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, which could prove to be invaluable along another tough La Liga season.

Will Andre Gomes or Denis Suarez play a bigger role for Barcelona next season? Let us know in the comments below