Thirteen hours after the market closed, with João Félix and Cancelo already presented and summoned to travel with the team to Pamplona, ??Xavi Hernández reflected on the Barça market. “I’m excited,” confessed the coach. “It is to be happy. The economic and fair play situation was very difficult but it has been managed very well by the board, Deco and Mateu Alemany. We have strengthened very well. Despite these problems and the fact that we have only been able to spend 3.4 million in Romeu, we will be competitive, ”he promised. Although he did not go as far as Laporta, he sees a team capable of aspiring to everything.
The only thing Xavi dared to say is that “the main objective” in Europe “is to go on to lead the group”, which will face Royal Antwerp, Porto and Shakhtar, since Barça has been falling to Europe for two consecutive seasons League. “We are bound by history”
On the last two incorporations, the man from Egar was full of praise for the two Portuguese. First Xavi wanted to clarify that João Félix does like him. “It fits us. It’s not just the president who likes it. To everyone, to the president, to the sports area, to me… He can play 9, on the left and even on the right. He can adapt to all three positions. He is an extraordinary talent,” he noted. “He hardly loses the ball, he associates very well,” he defined.
The forward has not triumphed at Simeone’s Atlético, who wanted it to be more continuous. “I know nothing. I have no information about what is happening at Atlético and it is not convenient for me to give an opinion. Here we will help you to feel good and perform at your best. We all believe that he can give us a lot”, Xavi intervened.
The right-back position was a priority for the coaches and Cancelo is a guarantee. “Cancel has brutal conditions. He can also play on the left, winger and inside. With that versatility, he can help the team, ”he reasoned, not wanting to give importance to rumors of a difficult character. “With Aubameyang it’s over, we had signed a problematic player and the feeling he left was a very hard-working boy,” he recalled.
In the departures section, Xavi revealed that the last three to leave Barça -Ansu Fati (Brighton), Eric Garcia (Girona) and Abde (Betis)- personally asked him to leave the team. “The three of them felt that they had the need to leave, to play more. We have listened to the players. They came to talk to me. The decision is 100% yours,” he discovered.
But he made it clear that Barça will closely follow their lead. “We have not lost anyone. All three can come back. When you listen to them you see that they intend to search for minutes. We are Barça and we don’t give anything away here. You have to compete. But they are young and it is their decision. Special is the case of Ansu Fati. “The main objective is for him to return to succeed at Barça. That’s why he leaves. And it continues to be the heritage of Barça ”, he pointed out.
