Barcelona maintain their status as one of the very top-level clubs in European football, and as a result, is a club that thrives on consistency and quality of the highest level possible in order to compete against the toughest of rivals as well.
Top clubs, even apart from Barcelona, thrive on the basis of these same principles. Sustained, top-level performances are a must for the players employed at such clubs whether it be during games, training sessions, or even during their pre-season assessment.
Players that fail to do so are typically considered surplus to requirements and are usually shipped off to clubs where their talents are understood to be adequate. For Barcelona, the standards remain high and Xavi Hernandez continues to maintain this.
As highlighted by Spanish outlet SPORT, Xavi Hernandez and Barcelona have assessed over the recent clash against Arsenal that there are three players in particular that do not possess neither the consistency nor quality required to play at FC Barcelona.
The three in question are Spanish veterans Marcos Alonso and Sergi Roberto, as well as American youngster Sergino Dest. All three of them are considered by Barcelona to either be past their best or simply not good enough to continue at the club.
However, ironically, Sergi Roberto is also the first captain of the current squad by seniority and captaincy-based hierarchy, although it is expected that he will not be representing Barcelona too often as captain given that he is not likely to start too much next season.
It will be interesting to see how Xavi decides to curb this insufficiency of quality and lack of consistency over the pre-season period, as Barcelona will indeed have high expectations on their shoulder heading into the 2023-24 season.