A bout of coronavirus and the emergence of Pedri doomed Miralem Pjanic’s Barcelona career from the start, reports Sport. 

The ex-Juventus midfielder was laid low with the virus shortly after arriving at Camp Nou, and as he struggled to regain sharpness he lost his place to the teenager. 

Pjanic’s relationship with Ronald Koeman never recovered from that inauspicious beginning, and the pair barely spoke until he eventually left for Besiktas on loan.