Braithwaite's wild year proves that nothing is impossible at Barcelona

Martin Braithwaite's journey is one of the clearest and most recent examples of how football and life is full of twists and turns.

This time last year, the Danish striker was at Leganes and preparing for a relegation battle. Now, at the end of this very strange 2020, he is at Barcelona and has been starting the Blaugrana's most recent matches.

The striker was signed on February 18, after the end of the January transfer window, as an emergency signing in response to the long-term injury of Ousmane Dembele. Barcelona paid the 18 million euros of his release clause to prize him away from Leganes.

In the remaining months of the 2019/20 season, he played 406 minutes across 11 matches, only starting four of them and only scoring one goal - against Celta Vigo.

In the summer, the 29-year-old was one of the players linked with a move away from the Camp Nou. The player, however, insisted that he would stay at Barcelona for more than four and a half years and he managed to stay throughout the summer window.

Yet he hardly featured for Ronald Koeman at first. By the end of November, he'd played just 47 minutes across six different matches.

But, then something changed. Since scoring two goals against Dynamo Kyiv on November 24, he has more and more regularly played for Koeman. He has played nine times since that day, starting eight and scoring five goals.

The Dutch coach has rewarded Braithwaite's hard work in training, while his versatility has also helped.

"He's working well and is putting in a lot of effort, contributing a lot because he can play in different positions," Koeman said.

Braithwaite, meanwhile, is content and shared a Christmas message at the end of his wild 2020.

"First Christmas in Barcelona, hope everyone is having a wonderful time with the people they love," he wrote on Instagram.