FC Barcelona have strengthened almost every area of their squad with acquisitions and signings they have made this summer. However, the club is seemingly not done with their shopping in this transfer window and is still looking for new players.
Two of the areas that the Catalan club has been looking to reinforce in the remaining summer transfer window are the right-back and midfield. The club has already signed Ilkay Gundogan and Oriol Romeu in this latter department of their team, but Xavi is looking for another player who can improve the team’s chance creation the next season.
The main target for the Blaugranes to improve this chance creation is the Portuguese midfielder, Bernardo Silva. FC Barcelona have been linked with Silva for the entirety of this summer transfer window, but nothing concrete has taken place that could have brought Silva to Camp Nou.
In fact, as already reported here, the player is going to wait only for a day or two before he signs a contract renewal with Manchester City and thus pulls the plug on Barcelona’s years-long desire to land the Portuguese.
However, according to the journalist Javi Miguel, FC Barcelona already have a contingency plan ready if they fail to land Bernardo Silva this summer.
This contingency plan is the Argentine midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, who is owned by Tottenham but played the last two seasons in Spain with Villareal. Xavi and the club believe Lo Celso can significantly improve the team’s chance creation stats the next season.
For the right-back position, Javi Miguel reports that Xavi’s preferred candidate is Juan Foyth, another Argentine who plays for Villareal. Other names like Ivan Fresneda are also under consideration at Barcelona offices, but Joao Cancelo looks to be far from a move to Camp Nou because of the high demands of Manchester City for the player.
Thus, if Barcelona lose out on Bernardo Silva, Lo Celso can be a competent enough midfielder to complement Xavi’s midfield, while Juan Foyth would also be an excellent addition at the right-back.
