COMMENT: Tottenham, not Barcelona, was the smarter move for Traore

In what seemed an absurd January move, Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Adama Traore made a sensational return to Barcelona, the club he once played for in his youth. 

The loan move to the Spanish giants, with a £29m option-to-buy clause, saw Traore snub interested Premier League side Tottenham, who had offered £15m to Wolves to sign him. 

Although the deal would come as a dream move for the Spanish international, Traore might have just rejected what could have been a better move for him than what he is set to experience at Barcelona.

The Blaugrauna have lined up in a 4-3-3-attacking format 11 of the 14 times they've played under their new manager, Xavi Hernandez. The excluded times saw Xavi play three defenders, and allow his fullbacks to roam the wings. 

Barcelona however have been inconsistent with their starting XI this season, with 34 different players featuring for the team. With Xavi, it's been more about giving the youngsters in the team a chance: many of them under the age of 22, five under the age of 18.

With youngsters, Ansu Fati, Ferran Jutgla, Ferran Torres, Ousmane Dembele, all being favoured to start ahead of an older 26-year Traore, the Spaniard's move to the Catalan capital could just end in a big disappointment and possibly land him back at Wolves at the end of the league season.

Let's put Traore's emotional preference of Barcelona aside for a moment. 

His tactical choice of Barcelona over Tottenham might have been down to Xavi's ability to use him as a winger in their offensive formation. But the forward, who can also play as a wing-back, failed to realize he was passing up the chance to play under Antonio Conte in such a position, and, on a more frequent basis than he may see at Camp Nou.

Conte, currently at the helm of affairs at Tottenham, has a history of turning ineffective wing forwards into monster wing-backs. 

Victor Moses at Chelsea's 2016/17 Premier League winning side, and most recently, Matteo Darmian at Serie A defending champions Inter Milan, are perfect examples of what Traore could have become had he chosen to overlook the emotional sentiments he had toward Barcelona and headed to London. 

However, his speed and physicality, which are his major selling points, might come in handy for Xavi's team when played as a wing forward. But again, Traore will need to understand that, at Camp Nou, the philosophy is more about holding possession than making unnecessary runs. 

While Traore could spend most of his loan spell on the bench for the Spanish club, when needed, Xavi would likely deploy him mostly on the right or left-wing position in a three-man attack setup. Memphis Depay, Martin Braithwaite or Luuk de Jong, likely playing in the central attack. 

Traore would have to hold off stiff competition from the preferred Fati, Abde Ezzalzouli, Jutgla, Dembele, Torres and Ilias Akhomach for a starting place on either side of the attack - depending on who's fit.