Barcelona completed one of the most spectacular transfers of the summer when they signed Malcom.

It’s not that signing Malcom is in itself spectacular, but rather the way in which he was signed, that sets this deal apart. This was brilliantly ruthless from the Blaugrana: they saw a club about to secure the signature of a player they liked and who could improve their squad, and they swooped in at the last minute to steal him away.

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Bordeaux had agreed a deal with Roma, Malcom had agreed a deal with Roma. He was about to get on a plane and fly to Roma to sign for the Giallorossi when Barcelona made a better offer, causing Bordeaux to put the brakes on everything. Malcom was grounded, his mother was allegedly in Rome already, waiting for him to show up. Someone better get her a connecting flight!

Within 24 hours, Malcom was in Barcelona, posing on their social media and saying “Visca Barça!” as though this were the culmination of a long saga instead of a staggering 38 hours. So Malcom is a Barça player, but where does he actually figure in their line-up? And does his arrival mean there’s no room for Ousmane Dembélé?

The New Look

With Barcelona losing Andrés Iniesta this summer and failing to sign a proper replacement, the formation that best suits their key players now may actually be 4-2-3-1. Especially as one major tenet of Valverde’s time at Barcelona has been Leo Messi in a central free role, devoid of the defensive responsibility playing on the flank entails.

Here Messi is the No.10 and everything (again) flows through him. Luis Suárez leads the line but, unlike last season, can stay in central zones. Barcelona missed out on wing-play most of 2017/18, but Malcom’s arrival and the increasing adaptation of Coutinho and Ousmane Dembélé should change all that.

Coutinho would obviously dominate the left-flank for the majority of games. Meanwhile Malcom, if he played, would do so in his favoured right-wing position; offering thrust and cutting inside, using his pace and skill to cause danger. Ousmane Dembélé, however, possesses the skill and ability to play on both sides of the pitch so could cover either flank. Three men for two roles? An ideal scenario.

False Nine

Ernest Valverde began last season playing 4-3-3 with a false nine, but injury to Dembélé and Luis Suárez’s rapid ageing forced him to shelve the system. But now he could bring it back, placing Messi in the middle (again) and dropping Suárez to the bench; something he needed to be able to do many times last season but could never afford to.

Many speculated that Barcelona’s summer-long pursuit (and eventual capture) of Malcom spelled doom for Ousmane Dembélé. But that never made much sense as Barcelona were in desperate need of another winger. Now the club has two, and they are different players who could easily thrive in the same side together.

On the right, Malcom plays his usual dynamic style. All running, shooting and instant threat. He is obviously rough around the edges but his ceaseless drive to push his team forward and his willingness to shoot on sight will give Barcelona an edge from out wide that they haven’t had since Pedro was in his pomp. Malcom could even carry the ball up the field if needed.

Meanwhile on the left Ousmane Dembélé plays more of a creator role, because of his ambipedal nature he would be as much of a threat on the left as the right, and in fact would probably do better on the left as his best creative foot is his left (so, use pace to beat your man and cross) and his best shooting foot is his right (cut in and shoot at goal).

With Coutinho behind them as part of a midfield three, this system would bring Barcelona back to their most fantastically fluid.

Rest Messi

Cast your minds back, if you will. Can you remember the last time Barcelona were able to rest Leo Messi and put out a genuinely excellent attacking line-up? It’s been at least a decade, right? The Blaugrana have come to be so reliant on Messi that they’ve been unable to properly rest him; they tried it last season and got slapped 5-4 by Levante. Levante!

But now, with the arrival of Malcom, Barcelona could actually put out an impressive Messi-less attacking line-up. Sticking to a 4-2-3-1 shape, Suárez leads the line once again, except this time he’s the veteran leader playing ahead of former Liverpool team-mate Coutinho, who slips into Messi’s role as the No.10. Out wide, Malcom takes over Messi’s role of left-footed dribbling off the right flank whilst Ousmane Dembélé becomes an important outlet on the left, offering both creativity and goal threat in equal measure.

Classic Valverde

It’s unlikely given the signings Barcelona have made, but one option Barcelona could utilise thanks to Malcom is a return to the 4-4-1-1 that Valverde used to grind Barça’s way to winning La Liga. Part of the problem with this system in the latter half of the season is that Ousmane Dembélé struggled with picking the ball up in such deep positions, and so had to push higher to be effective, which made him a problem from a defensive-positioning sense. Malcom is more used to starting from deep, so he would slot in on the right of the 4-4-1-1 with much more ease, allowing Valverde to revert to his hyper-conservative system if he ever wanted to.

The Standard

Valverde has always emphasised keeping Messi in a central position, but one of the things possible for Barcelona now they have such quality young wingers with real pace is a return to the classic 4-3-3 with Messi stationed on the right of the pitch.

This would probably never be a starting shape, but would work excellently as a mid-game switch to confuse opponents, with Messi taking up his old familiar spot and then Dembélé or Malcom moving to the left. The Frenchman would play the position as a dual threat, whilst Malcom would explode to the by-line and send in some terrific crosses for Luis Suárez (or just constantly thwack it at goal).