The Spanish giants Barcelona are eager to stay ahead in the race for more trophies. With Xavi, now taken over, here’s some players he might target.
1. Cesar AzpilicuetaÂ
Barcelona have reportedly stepped up their pursuit for the Champions League winning defender Cesar Azpilicueta. The Spaniard’s current contract with Chelsea is all set to run out this summer.
Barcelona are already in touch with the 32-year-old as he runs out of contract in the summer. The taking point from this is that they want him for free.
The Catalan giants are willing to offer him a 2-year contract till 2024. Xavi is very fond of Azpilicueta’s versatility in his positions and is hopeful of solving Barcelona’s defensive woes with his signing. Azpilicueta has played as a RB, RWB, CB and also a RM for Chelsea.
While his time at Chelsea, the Spanish international is already a playing legend having joined the Blues in 2012 from Marseille. With a magnificent career over 10 years, Azpilicueta has won it all with the club. He has won 11 trophies in London, including two Premier League titles in 2014/15 and 2016/17.
His age, however, could be bit of a problem, as he often suffers injuries on the pitch. Barcelona could also entice his Chelsea teammate Andreas Christensen to join them in summer.
2. Erling Haaland
Barcelona are interested in, who could be one of the best players in the world. Erling Haaland could be a turning point for the already sloppy Barcelona. His transfer could be compared to that of Messi’s if it were to materialise.
Barcelona are toiling hard on a plan to raise roughly €100 million to fund the signing of Borussia Dortmund striker.
Dortmund will expect to make a mammoth of a return on their initial €20m investment in Haaland since scouting him up from Red Bull Salzburg in January 2020, with the Norwegian scoring a whopping 80 goals in his first 79 appearances yet.
His fabulous performance in Germany has attracted attention from all over the world, with Barcelona seriously considering him.
💰| Barcelona estimate that the wage cap for next season will be close to €400m compared to the €98m for this season.
• Barça want to sell 49% stakes of Barça Studios for around €100m but it's not easy. It will be key to sign Erling Haaland.
Via (🟡): @AdriaSoldevila [goal] pic.twitter.com/lPqPaIbt3M
— Barça Buzz (@Barca_Buzz) January 26, 2022
Barcelona’s current forward line is much of rudimentary on contrast to their high expectations. With Depay not making a big impact yet, and Coutinho and Dembele having to leave the club, they would want an array of young talent, starting with a world-class striker.
It would be very interesting to see how Xavi would incorporate the 21-year-old in his squad.
3. Lionel Messi
This might be a bit of a surprise for the Barcelona fans, but this could very well happen. Their beloved legend is rumoured to have been looking for a move away from Paris, and a return to Catalan would be his first preference.
Reports suggest that his wife Antonella Roccuzzo is unhappy and not enjoying her life in France. Messi’s kids are also having a hard time learning French and are missing their friends back in Catalan. This could be sort of an indication of him moving back to his past glorified club. This could force the Argentinian with a move back.
Since Messi’s departure, Barcelona have been completely shaken. Ronald Koeman was fired and Xavi was appointed. They signed new talent, namely Memphis Depay from Lyon and Luuk De Jong on a transfer. But nothing seems to be going right for them at the moment.
If Messi were to reduce his weekly wages and take a cut as most Barca players did, he could return.
Barcelona would be really interested in having arguably the ‘greatest of all time’ in summer.
