Barcelona coach Xavi says club needs reinforcements and praises Gundogan’s arrival

This Thursday, the current coach of the Barcelona, Xavi Hernández, declared that the club needs new reinforcements for next season. Despite the recent arrivals of the defender Iñigo Martinez and midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, the Spaniard pointed out that the squad still lacks more parts, since the financial Fair Play of The league allow.

“It is necessary to reinforce itself. The president (Laporta) knows, Mateu Alemany (football director) knows, it is not necessary to deceive anyone. The market will be long. There are still missing parts, we do not have to deceive the fans. But the president is doing a good job,” he said at a press conference.

Xavi also praised the arrival of the German Ilkay Gundoganwho left the Manchester City after winning the triple crown in the 2022/23 season. “He is a versatile player, a specialist in the midfield. He told us that he is coming to succeed in Barcelona. He will help us a lot and he dreams of triumphing with Barça”, he said.

The Spanish coach also highlighted the volatility situation of the team. Barcelona are struggling to bring a midfielder that can fill the space left by the departure of Sergio Busquets, who chose not to renew with the Catalan team at the end of the season. The most recent name mentioned would have been Oriol Romeu, from Girona.

“We are in a complicated situation. We have to adapt to fair play, but I don’t want to talk about names (of players), because the other clubs get irritated. We have a lot of options, but they are not natural (midfielders). Eric García, Frenkie de Jong… are not natural players for this position. We need to reinforce ourselves”, he pointed out.

Finally, Xavi left the future of the team’s right back open. The Frenchman Jules Koundé is who has been assuming the position. “We would like to reinforce this position, but it depends on the market and financial Fair Play”.