Xavi's 'Guardiola-style' pivot experiment could see new Christensen role

We are not going to discover now that FC Barcelona's main objective in reinforcing the first-team squad is to find the best possible replacement for Sergio Busquets.

The club is looking for a proven top-level pivot on the market whose signing would fit in with the club's delicate financial situation and, for the moment, everything seems to indicate that the name chosen will be former youth team player Oriol Romeu.

However, the sporting structure, with coach Xavi at the head, is already working on the possibility of experimenting with someone already at the club.

In the case of the pivot, Xavi has several 'wild cards': Sergi Roberto, Eric Garcia, Franck Kessié and Frenkie de Jong already had to occupy this position last season and Ilkay Gündogan, announced on Monday, also has considerable experience (86 games) as a deeper midfielder.

Marc Casadó (19 years old) and Pau Prim (17 years old) could be home-grown resources in emergency situations, but we are talking about a very specific and important role in Barça's setup and Xavi will not experiment with the youngsters. They will only play if the coach sees them ready to offer an immediate performance.

Preseason, which starts on 10 July, could be a very good opportunity for the youngsters. Just ask Alejandro Balde, who made a place in the first team in the preparation of the 2022/23 season and consolidated his place in the starting line-up in record time, relegating to the bench a legend like Jordi Alba, until then undisputed.

Alternative profile

There is another member of the Barça squad who is also capable of playing as a pivot. This is Andreas Christensen, a name that Xavi himself put on the table a few weeks ago.

"He is one of the best signings of this season and of the last few years," Xavi said. "He is an extraordinary defender. And the way we play, the way he filters balls, divides and understands the free man, he could be a midfielder playing at the back."

Although he has not yet done so at Barça, at some points in his career the Dane has already played as a defensive midfielder.

The first time he did so was in the Denmark U21 squad, both in friendly matches and in qualifiers for Euro 2015. In the same edition of the continental competition, he was also deployed at pivot on one occasion. His performances were convincing and Chelsea tried him out the following season in two UEFA Youth League play-offs.

In senior tournaments, however, Christensen's record outside his natural position is six appearances, three for Borussia Mönchengladbach, one at Stamford Bridge and the last two at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, against France and Croatia.

We are not talking about a player who is used to playing as a positional midfielder, but he does know the role. And Xavi, from what he has seen in his first year together, has publicly stated that it is an option he is considering. The soon-to-be-announced arrival of Iñigo Martínez and Jules Koundé's request to play at centre-back could see Andreas move up a position.

The summer, be that as it may, will be a long one. We will see which profile arrives for the starting role and if, of all his possible replacements, Christensen is the priority alternative.