After the defeat against Girona and the draw at Mestalla against Valencia, Xavi’s Barça seeks to close the year against Almería by adding three essential points in the fight for the League but also with its sights set on the January market. Beyond the arrival of the expected Vítor Roque, Xavi hopes that for Christmas the club will give him a midfielder to make up for Gavi’s loss, although he is aware that the entity runs into its eternal problem: financial fair play. “We need a profile like Gavi’s but it is difficult to get it. And we will see what situation we are in with the famous financial fair play,” said Xavi.
The club is looking for a profile that can arrive on loan. To achieve the salary margin necessary to register him, the entity needs to pay part or all of the 40 million that Libero had to pay already in the summer through Barça Studios. And keep in mind that it remains to register the new Gavi contract, the renewals of Xavi Hernández and his coaching staff and recover the guarantee that President Laporta and other members of the board presented to be able to register João Félix and Cancelo.
Yes, the arrival of Vitor Roque is expected, scheduled after the Christmas break. Given the team’s lack of goals, expectations are very high with the 18-year-old Brazilian. “We are in permanent contact with him. That he comes, that he adapts, is hope for the team. He can contribute a lot to us. Everything is positive. They are players who arrive with many expectations but it is too early to say. I hope Vitor Roque is like the of Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo in the long run, but we have to wait,” warned Xavi, asked about the great expectation created.
Before the end of the year, it’s time to beat Almería. With Girona and Real Madrid unstoppable, the Barcelona coach still sees “the League as recoverable but we cannot fail. What is taking its toll on us is us. We have left points along the way and now we have to finish the first round in a certain way.” positive,” he warned. “Personally, I believe in what I do. I am stubborn, positive, although I obviously have a hard time when we don’t win or the things we have trained don’t work out. I am the most responsible. It is not grateful and sometimes it is unpleasant. I have already experienced it as a player, although as a coach. you receive more, you are in the focus. But I believe a lot in what we are doing,” he concluded.
Between so many missions, the play on the field monitor by the main referee of the match, through the official operators of the competitions and once each day of competition of the day has ended. “It is a step forward in football. It is very positive that people see what is happening, what the referees interpret. We must humanize the referees and we must help them. It is great news for football that they give news of what that they whistle and why, I’m happy,” he said.
After playing against Almería, a match in which Xavi will not be able to count on the suspended Frenkie de Jong, the team will travel directly to Texas, to play a friendly in the early hours of December 22 against América, a match that will be played in the Cotton Bowl Stadium and will be the last commitment of the year for Xavi Hernández’s Barça.
“There is a lot of expectation, we are playing against América from Mexico, a historic club with many followers in Dallas. There are many ‘culers’ there who already supported us on the tour last summer. It will be a fantastic show and Barça will travel with all its players available,” Laporta said in the interview he gave to EFE.
The leader admitted that the expansion of Barcelona in the aforementioned American area is “very important” and recalled that the Barça entity has been traveling there for two years on its preseason tour. “We have many fans there. There is a lot of interest in Barça at the level sporting and institutional and we have had very good results when we have gone there. This summer we will surely repeat,” said the president.
