As FC Barcelona prepare to bid farewell to both legends and home in the game against Mallorca, Xavi’s press conference confirms certain reports. The coach brought to light the peculiarities of the current ending to the season but emphasized, in particular, the effort needed and the missing piece Barcelona must acquire to compete next season.
With Sergio Busquets set to depart the club of his life alongside fellow veteran Jordi Alba, the club is in complete urgency to fill the void that will indefinitely be left as he parts ways with the Catalan club. In Alba’s case, however, Barcelona have access to the services of Alejandro Balde to take over the fullback position, something that cannot be said for Sergio Busquets.
As depicted by Mundo Deportivo, Xavi Hernandez has reaffirmed what numerous reports have indicated over the past couple of weeks. The first and foremost priority for Barcelona in this summer window remains the acquisition of a new, top-level defensive pivot. Without one, even Xavi Hernandez states that it becomes difficult to compete as the club would ideally like to.
Moreover, the coach brought into light the difficulty of having to bid farewell to Camp Nou and the veterans that once used to be teammates of his:
…but also for saying goodbye to Camp Nou, which has had many years of history, and then for saying goodbye to Busquets and Alba…we want to have an excellent farewell and hopefully, we can offer our best version.
And when stating his desire to find an adequate replacement for Sergio Busquets elsewhere as the players in the club right now may not be of that particular pedigree that could fill the gap being left by Busquets, and the need to find a substitute from somewhere else now becomes pivotal as the club is “…not sure if there is one at home”, the coach had this to say:
…You have to find that piece. If we want to compete well next year it is essential. Busquets has been essential to get the Super Cup and La Liga …You have to find a very important player to replace him.
There remain a couple of names on the list of potential replacements that FC Barcelona have currently shortlisted such as Kimmich and Zubimendi, amongst which the latest name is one from Belgium who is only 18 years of age with not too much experience in his footballing career. It remains to be seen just who FC Barcelona end up pursuing as their final choice.
