Barcelona fans should thank Luis Enrique. Not just for their historic treble or the Clasico humiliation of Real Madrid, but because he may well have salvaged the next great La Masia player from the scrapheap.

Sergi Roberto was on the brink of leaving the club at the end of last season, but the Asturian coach sat him down and convinced him that his future remained at the Camp Nou.

There were offers from clubs far and wide, including Everton, Stoke and Tottenham in the Premier League and Inter Milan in Serie A, but in the end, the Reus-born midfielder decided to stay.

Roberto had renewed his deal in the autumn of 2014, but it soon became clear that he wasn’t in the manager’s plans. When any of the first-choice midfield trio were injured, suspended or otherwise not picked, it was Xavi Hernandez who stepped in.

The 23-year-old only started eight matches for Barcelona in the 2014-15 campaign, playing less than 1,000 minutes in total, but Lucho told him that things would be different this season. And they have been.

Roberto confirmed, per Sport, that his manager had “told me that he counts on me.”

He added:

I had a conversation with the manager and he told me that this season I would have more chances in central midfield.

I don’t know where I will get more game time, in Xavi‘s role, as Arda (Turan) can’t play until January, which leaves possibilities.

Or as the deep lying midfielder like last year, in order to give Sergio (Busquets) a rest. This year the opportunity has been presented to me to play as a full-back.

He was speaking after the club’s pre-season tour of the United States, where Lucho had deployed him as a right-back, with Dani Alves away after his summer at the Copa America and Martin Montoya out of the picture.

Sport’s Ivan San Antonio detailed how Luis Enrique had told Roberto at the end of last season, when his doubts about continuing at Barcelona were at their peak, how he saw a role for him in defence.

The coach not only told the player this, but also others at the club, showing that playing there in Alves‘ absence through injury earlier this season was not something done out of necessity but “careful planning.”

Although Roberto had doubts at first, they began to fade during training sessions where Lucho worked closely with him, all the time insisting he had what it takes to be a fine full-back. And that’s where he started, in the first game of the league season, away against Athletic Bilbao.

Roberto was excellent, and he maintained his level in the following game at home against Malaga. Two games, two clean sheets, two top performances. Possibly even the best two games he had played for the club to date. Both in a position which wasn’t even his own.

Many had given up hope of the midfielder making it at Barcelona. He just didn’t seem to have the flair or confidence needed to excel the engine room of the team. Being given regular football and the chance to stretch his legs down the right gave him that.

Eusebio, formerly of Barcelona B but now Real Sociedad manager, thought he was the natural successor to Alves.

He told Sport:

Sergi Roberto has a great fighting spirit and is excellent at driving the ball forward.

After three years the chance has arrived for his characteristics to be maximised.

I see him as the club’s future right-back. [Dani] Alves is getting older and he will need a replacement and that is Sergi.

After several years in which he didn’t realise his potential, he’s been a fantastic discovery for Barca this season.

Even Alves agreed that Roberto had been hugely impressive, though it was far from a shock for the Brazilian.

“It’s not been surprising to see the quality of Sergi Roberto. A surprise is when you don’t expect something. I see him every day working,” Alves told Barca TV (h/t Sport).

And when he was brought back into the midfield, when Alves was fit and Luis Enrique wanted to give oxygen to Andres Iniesta or Ivan Rakitic, he did not regress to the timid wallflower of a player had had been before. He was transformed.

Roberto had become the player that Barcelona and Real Madrid fought over to sign, after he played against the Catalan side for Nastic, back at just 14 years old.

Both clubs faxed through offers for him, according to Sport, but he had a dream to play for Barcelona and his family backed him on the decision.

It was Roberto who scored the equaliser against Bayer Leverkusen, as Barcelona struggled for inspiration with Lionel Messi out and Neymar yet to become the force he currently is.

It was Roberto who helped break down a gritty Getafe side at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, creating both of Barcelona’s goals with brilliant assists. The first was a magnificent volleyed back-flick for Luis Suarez, the second a long, arced cross for Neymar to volley home.

And it was Roberto who unlocked Real Madrid’s defence in the Clasico, playing in Messi‘s position on the right wing, cutting inside and feeding Suarez, who broke the deadlock. It was a move that Messi himself would have been happy with.

Roberto has made a fairly clear-cut starting side of 11 into a pick of 12 for the coach. Thanks to injuries Enrique hasn’t been forced to make a decision on whether the player would be part of his first-choice team, but if form were the only deciding factor, he would be one of the first names on the team sheet.

He now feels more central, integral to the club. Roberto was even picked to represent the team, alongside Iniesta, at the floral offering at the monument of Rafael Casanova on the Diada, Catalonia’s national day.

Far from the outcast of last season, he is now brimming with purpose. No longer on the fringes, not even a wildcard, just a trusted member of an elite band of players.

Pep Guardiola had given Roberto his debut in 2011, but in the years after that it seemed like he had over-estimated the quality of the Spaniard. Of course he hadn’t. Sport say the club want to give him another new contract, this time to bump up his wage and ensure he’s comfortable staying at the Camp Nou for the long-term future.

If Roberto doesn’t live up to the likes of Xavi and Iniesta, he will not be a failure. Players like those two are once-in-a-generation phenomenons. Except somehow Barcelona had two.

But finally Roberto’s potential is becoming a reality. And though reaching the stars is hard, the ceiling above his head has been smashed to smithereens and his sights are set on the sky.

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