Five days to market close (September 1) “Anything can still happen” at Barça, affirmed Xavi Hernández. What has already happened is that Barça has inscribed to Jules Koundé. LaLiga confirmed on Saturday afternoon that the French defender would join the squad officially and according to regulations. After two days had elapsed in which he had not given his approval, alleging that Barça had not corrected his wage gap, he approved the registration.
The only variation, from refusal to acceptance, had been Samuel Umtiti’s march to Lecce, despite the fact that the Barça club will continue to take charge, initially, of the player’s record. The change was given because Barça accepted article 92, by which the regulations allow a club to “anticipate the achievement of income or benefits.” To do this, it is necessary to present a bank guarantee, “which must be provided by the shareholder or a third party outside the club.” Or a manager or someone close.
Xavi had been guaranteed that he would be able to count on Koundé and he was happy yesterday, on the eve of welcoming Valladolid coached by Pacheta, of whom he said, as soon as he opened the press conference, that “the people on the staff are admirers of Pacheta”, for his daring, the joy and the method of work that he uses. Apparently, the LaLiga executives have read, reread and interpreted the documentation that Barça delivered on the income obtained from the activated levers and consider that the club no longer has restrictions to target the French defender, the only reinforcement that had not been able take part.
Hence, without these restrictions, Xavi ventured that “many things can happen in the market”, despite the fact that he confessed: “I want it to end and see what squad remains”, he repeated. “There can be three possible scenarios: the best, the least good and the worst and I contemplate everything”, he confessed, leaving the door open to any entry and exit of footballers.
Much has been written and said about the registration of players in the @FCBarcelona_esa lot of fake news (external auditors, )…@laliga and its control body has not modified any previous decision, decisions that have been ratified by all the competent bodies.????????
– Javier Tebas Medrano (@Tebasjavier) August 27, 2022
“There can be three possible scenarios in the market: the best, the least good and the worst. I contemplate everything”
Xavi Hernández / Barça Coach
There are those that have been for sale for months, such as Sergiño Dest and Martin Braithwaite, who were ordered in May to find a destination. There are, like Frenkie de Jong, Memphis and Aubameyang, who were (are) likely to be transferred to report money and pay for other reinforcements because they are the most sought-after transferable footballers in the group.
The utopian Bernardo Silva
There are objects of desire that are chimerical, such is the case of Bernardo Silva, due to the proximity of the closing of the market and the very high price that Manchester City demands. “Honestly, I see it as very complicated,” Xavi acknowledged from the panorama painted by the English club. As much as the last thing people heard from Pep Guardiola on Wednesday was that Bernardo “likes Barcelona a lot.” The Portuguese shone in City’s comeback (4-2 against Crystal Palace) and made it difficult for his club to dispose of him.
But other doubts remain in Barça’s future signings, such as the signing of two full-backs, one right and one left. Marcos Alonso (Chelsea) has stopped talking, but he is not ruled out, far from it, Xavi pointed out. Nor Javi Galán (Celta), another of the names pointed out for the left plot of defense.
good role of alexander bald, who is playing “with a lot of personality” according to Xavi, has meant that the acquisition of a left-footed defender is no longer such a priority. Now it is the right-hander, despite the fact that Sergi Roberto, Araujo and even Koundé can play in that demarcation. None of them is lateral by nature. It is Héctor Bellerin, who could appear with the freedom of Arsenal.
Xavi talks about Ter Stegen’s silent leadership and believes that Piqué can help “in another role”
“We are not going to adulterate the competition, and less in the situation we are in,” Xavi observed about the change in criteria operated by LaLiga with respect to Barça. Once Koundé was accepted and the salary restrictions were eliminated, the final choice of hiring and dismissal would be up to the Xavi’s purely technical opinion.
“In part yes,” admitted the coach. “The priority is football interest, but we manage ourselves based on the two variants, salary and sports,” he added. The decisions will be the result of the communion of opinions that exist in “the family” that make up the components of his staff with Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff, the two executives of the sports area.
“We have to go out in a rush and score a goal soon to make the game more placid and not be like Rayo’s”, says Xavi
change of leadership
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Meanwhile, a change of roles is taking place in the locker room. Ter Stegen exercises a different leadership with respect to the others. “She is not listened to much, but when she speaks she makes herself heard”, Xavi observed. However, Gerard Piqué has ceased to be a prominent player. “I spoke with him and I was very clear. He can help us with another role. It depends on his feelings, mine and how he competes when he has an opportunity,” he said.
He does not point out that it will be today, with Koundé eager to debut. “We have to go out in a rush and score a goal soon to make the game more placid and not be like Rayo’s”, a soporific and frustrating 0-0 on the opening day of the championship.