Key Xavi and Laporta meeting over signings this week

Key Xavi and Laporta meeting over signings this week

| sport

The coach and the Barcelona president have a lot to discuss in terms of ins and outs

Xavi and Barcelona president Joan Laporta will meet in the coming hours, to discuss transfers. On the table are eight moves the coach has asked for and the list of 10-12 players out that he wants. Jordi Cruyff the technical secretary and director of football Mateu Alemany will be present, along with sporting vice-president Rafa Yuste. It’s a decisive meeting to unblock the current situation, a month before the pre-season begins. 

Xavi is sure what his priorities are. He has asked for eight players, including Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso, Christensen and Koulibaly, midfielders Kessie, Ruben Neves, plus winger Raphinha and hitman Lewandowski. 

Some of these signings are advanced, like with Christensen and Kessie who are on free deals at the end of their contracts. Others are being negotiated, while the rest will depend on Barcelona’s economic capacity. 

In this sense the club is set to activate some of the levers they have that can improve the financial situation and allow them to register players. The key to the squad changes Xavi wants is the money issue. Not only to make signings but to allow for the long list of departures Xavi wants. 

The coach has met with Neto, Umtiti, Mingueza, Lenglet, Riqui Puig, Braithwaite, Adama and Luuk de Jong, one on one, to tell them they aren’t needed next season. Adama and Luuk are easy; they go back to their parent clubs from loan. Dembele is another case; he is out of contract. The club want him to stay but he might choose to leave. Frenkie de Jong, Memphis and Dest could also leave if interesting enough offers arrive.

Xavi will put his plans to the president and hopes that, after the meeting, cases can start to be solved. It will be a long and difficult summer for Barcelona. It’s hard to imagine the squad will be ready by July 4, when pre-season begins.

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