Is Douglas Barcelona's worst ever signing?

Eyebrows were raised in Barcelona last summer when ex-Sao Paulo right-back Douglas was presented before the media.

 Rumours had been rife that the Catalans would be making a move for the player but even the Brazilian locals were in utter disbelief when interviewed by local media. The player had one or two reasonable facets to his game they said. But he was in no way, shape or form a Barcelona player. 

WARNING

 Perhaps Andoni Zubiaretta and his cronies should've taken more heed of the warning. Just one appearance in five months later, an insipid goalless draw against Malaga at the end of September, and already Barca are looking to rid themselves of a player that they should never have entertained in a million years.

 Everton are rumoured to remain keen on taking the player on loan, but Roberto Martinez has enough problems of his own at the moment, without adding to his stress levels.

 DESTINATION

 Martin Montoya is definitely on his way out in January with Juventus the likely destination, and it's said that Louis Van Gaal will personally pull out all of the stops to persuade Dani Alves to swap the beaches of Barcelona for the rain of Manchester in the same time frame.

 That being the case, Barca have the very real possibility of ending January without a recognised right-back and Luis Enrique having to draw on a "make do and mend" rotation policy even further. 

ENGLAND-BOUND

 According to talkSPORT, reports in Spain suggest a deal could be done for Douglas soon, and it would be the most sensible option for all parties. Despite injuries and suspensions in the back line for the final Champions League group game against Paris Saint-Germain, Enrique still didn’t play Douglas.

 Worse than that, he included Pedro in a right wing-back role in that game, with three centre-backs plus Javier Mascherano making the line-up. Pedro is an attacking winger who had previously never played a single second in defence.

 What does that tell you?

 SUITED

 Quite whether Douglas is completely suited to life in the Premier League is another question entirely, but Martinez obviously sees something in the player that he thinks he can work with.

 Given his tutelage of Gerard Deulofeu, who was much more of a maverick player before his arrival on Merseyside than after he left, you’d have to say that if anyone can mould the player into an effective right-back then the Spaniard is the man.

 SPEED

 Douglas at least has speed in abundance, and is adept at the more defensive rigours of the game. What he is not is a wing back in the Barcelona tradition, so while it’s hardly a move that will get the Goodison Park faithful on the edge of their seats, Douglas could still be a steady signing for the Toffees.