SETTABLOID

Barcelona have a lot of headaches heading into the summer transfer window, including choosing the player that will leave the club to raise money in an attempt to return to the 1:1 rule in La Liga.

However, this will go beyond just the need to sell players to earn money. Some of the assets in the squad might need to be offloaded so they can get their career back on track, or get the minutes they are truly craving for.

At the top of this list is a certain Vitor Roque, who was brought in from Brazil for over €40 million in January, but has failed to make a mark in the team at all, mustering 11 games in the league, of which just two were starts.

As such, reports of him leaving on loan in the summer have started circling the news, with rumours claiming that he has been unable to adapt to the team.

If news from earlier today is to be believed, Barcelona are soon planning on informing Roque about their intention to loan him out in the summer, with several teams interested in his signature.

According to fresh reports published by ABC (h/t BarcaCentre), Sevilla and Real Betis are two of the teams that have Roque on their shortlist, and are looking to sign him on a loan transfer in the summer.

The latter will have to sort out their Financial Fair Play situation before making any move for the Brazilian.

While Barcelona seem to have made their decision about loaning Roque out, the final decision will come down to Xavi and the Brazilian himself.

It seems as if Xavi was never consulted about the 19-year-old’s signing in the first place, and does not think that he has adapted to Barcelona’s style and system enough for him to be getting regular minutes in the team.

Further, it seems as if the coach prefers Marc Guiu’s profile over him, who will continue to fight it out with Roque for a spot next season.

News from Roque’s camp suggests that the player does not want to leave the club this summer.

The injury crisis at FC Barcelona has remained an exhausting run of affairs this season. Consistently, La Blaugrana saw their key players get sidelined due to unfortunate ailments. However, despite those injuries, Barcelona have tried again and again to find the right alternatives as well.

The injury crisis at FC Barcelona has remained an exhausting run of affairs this season. Consistently, La Blaugrana saw their key players get sidelined due to unfortunate ailments. However, despite those injuries, Barcelona have tried again and again to find the right alternatives as well.

However, his impact was on the other end of the pitch this time. With Diego Lopez seemingly through on goal with only Marc-Andre Ter Stegen left between him and Valencia’s third goal, it was Pedri who tracked back across the halfway line all the way over to Barça’s box to execute a perfectly timed tackle.

Unlike Ronald Araujo, however, Pedri left no repercussions in that tackle. Neither was it a penalty or a foul, but instead a clean takeaway that the Spaniard executed with extreme levels of maturity and great timing. Even after the game, Xavi used this incident as an example to showcase Pedri’s current level of fitness:

The young Golden Boy winner continues to be instrumental for Barcelona no matter the opponent. However, acknowledging that no more titles are at stake, Barcelona are keen to be careful with the way they deploy Pedri.

From now till the end of the season, the 21-year-old Barcelona star may have to stick to occasional cameos to ensure his recovery goes smoothly after a rather hectic campaign.

Earlier today, news of Sergi Roberto’s renewal took the Spanish media by storm. Word had it that the club and the player were close to an agreement and even that an announcement was not far off.

The report further added that the captain’s renewal had nothing to do with Xavi’s continuity as manager, for Deco had decided to offer an extension to the player regardless.

In a dramatic change of events, Luis F Rojo of MARCA reveals that matters are not as rosy as initially portrayed.

Barcelona are indeed trying to speed up the process of the captain’s renewal with a meeting scheduled for the end of this week or the beginning of the next.

However, the journalist insists that it will not be half as simple as it appears. After all, both parties are far from a mutual agreement on multiple fronts.

For starters, Roberto gave up a large part of his wages in his last renewal to help the club with their financial situation. He is, in fact, one of the lowest-paid players in the team and is not willing to forfeit any more money.

Further, the captain is not satisfied with a one-year renewal and demands that he be offered at least two years of continuity. He intends to thus start negotiations from scratch, something the board do not necessarily agree with.

One must not forget that Barcelona are still far from financial stability and a return to the good books on financial fair play.

Roberto’s renewal, on that front, poses a massive hurdle.

As a player whose contract ends this summer, his renewal will be registered on the same books as a new signing. As is well known by this point, Barcelona have already exceeded the limit on that front and have very small margins.

Both parties wish for a renewal, but it is clear that an agreement is far from being just around the corner.

Xavi has suggested that Barcelona’s players have given more since he announced his intention to leave the club in January.

The Spaniard communicated his intention to step down as manager after a difficult run of results, claiming that his work had “not been valued enough” and that the constant negativity had caused “wear and tear”.

Barcelona’s fortunes have dramatically turned around in the three months that have followed, though they were recently eliminated from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage after a crushing defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

Xavi has been under pressure to reverse his decision after a lengthy unbeaten run in La Liga and he eventually relented last week, agreeing to stay on as Barca’s manager for the duration of his contract.

Speaking in the aftermath of the 4-2 win over Valencia in La Liga – a game that saw under-fire striker Robert Lewandowski score a second half hat-trick – Xavi admitted that a factor in his decision to quit was to motivate Barcelona’s players, who perhaps had not given enough in the early months of the season.

We try to be demanding with them. It is the history of this club,” Xavi said. “My decision to announce goodbye was meant to do so. Maybe they could have given more.

“So it was. I think that both at Montjuïc and at the Bernabeu we deserved much more [against PSG and Real Madrid].

He continued of his current feelings: “I’m very good, I explained it the other day in a natural way. In January I felt responsible for the bad results and I thought the best thing was to step aside.

But then I saw the confidence of the president, of Deco, of the club and in particular of the footballers, which is fundamental. Barca, above all. It’s very emotional. The Catalans and the Cules are like that. Sometimes we do great and sometimes we all destroy it. I have felt the support of the club, Deco and the players.”

Barcelona’s win saw them leapfrog Girona into second place in La Liga, ahead of a crunch clash between the pair on Saturday, with the title already surrendered to bitter rivals Real Madrid barring a dramatic end of season collapse from Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick in the second half to spur his team on to a hard-fought 4-2 victory against Valencia on Monday.

Valencia were up 2-1 until they were demoted to 10 men shortly before halftime.

With five games left, Barca overtook surprise package Girona, who are now in third place in La Liga, to reclaim second place with 73 points.

On Saturday, the two clubs will square off in a Catalan derby that might determine who finishes in the top two spots in La Liga and advances to the Spanish Super Cup.

After the match, Xavi praised the former Bayern Munich striker for his heroic efforts in the win for the Catalan club.

As reported by Fabrizio Romano on his X account, the Spaniard was full of praise for his striker.

The Barcelona boss avoided making any comment about the future of Lewandowski.

He admitted that he is delighted with Lewandowski’s performance and the contribution he has made to the team.

With 16 goals, Lewandowski is now the fourth-highest scorer in La Liga, one goal behind Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid and Alexander Sorloth of Villarreal, and three goals behind Artem Dovbyk of Girona.

Real Madrid’s nearly certain La Liga title celebrations were delayed for a few weeks due to the victory, as Carlo Ancelotti’s team now leads the standings with 84 points.

La Blaugrana has benefited greatly from Lewandowski’s goals this season, as his 16 goals in the league have won the La Liga giants 17 points this season.

Barcelona are looking to strengthen their midfielder in the summer and Fabrizio Romano has provided an update about it.

After defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, Barcelona staged a much-improved performance against Valencia, notably securing a 4-2 victory at home.

Barcelona’s win came on the back of a stellar display from Robert Lewandowski, who bagged a hat-trick on the night.

Lewandowski makes history

Lewandowski’s performance on the night saw him make history. He has now become the first Barcelona striker to score two headers in a single La Liga match since the legendary Samuel Eto’o in 2005.

Lewandowski is not just scoring goals, he’s winning points for his team. Lewandowski currently leads La Liga, having earned Barcelona a whopping 17 points through his goals.

Fermin Lopez’s rapid rise to prominence

Another star for Barcelona in the Valencia win was Fermin Lopez, as he notably scored the opener in the 22nd minute.

The goal marked yet another milestone for the young attacker, who has now racked up eight goals in all competitions. It must be noted that Fermin was playing in the third division of Spanish football last season.

In addition to his tally of eight goals, Fermin’s last four goals have come against the likes of Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Napoli and Valencia, which is an indicator of his ability to perform in big matches.

Araujo’s Double-Edged Sword

While Ronald Araujo brings defensive solidity to Barcelona, his performance against Valencia raises concerns, as he notably conceded a foul that led to a penalty.

He leads La Liga defenders this season with a combined stat of 6 red cards, penalties conceded, and errors leading to goals.

Barcelona climbed back to second place on the La Liga standings late on Monday night after a roller-coaster, yet comical win, over Valencia.

The game was a treat to the eyes of those purely seeking entertainment as it produced moments of embarrassment through the first half to no end. It stabilised in the second period, and ultimately Barcelona walked away with a 4-2 win.

The result is kind on Xavi’s side who neither deserved the win nor the scoreline on the night given their performance. A Robert Lewandowski hat-trick coupled with good contributions from Ilkay Gundogan, Lamine Yamal and Fermin Lopez helped seal the result.

Barça Universal brings you three talking points from Barcelona 4-2 Valencia.

A tale of blunders

Barcelona’s improved performances in recent months, directly or indirectly, has a correlation with Xavi announcing his departure from the club. The renewed feeling of responsibility or guilt, after all, caused players to step up.

Now out of that zone, after the manager announced his continuity, there was an element of fear ahead of last night’s clash. After all, that factor coupled with the lack of any real chance to win silverware could cause Barcelona to drop their guard.

Robert Lewandowski has once again confirmed he is absolutely not thinking of a move away from Barcelona any time soon.

The Poland international will turn 36 in the summer but says he’s still feeling good at Barcelona and a transfer is not on the agenda.

Lewandowski’s current contract runs until 2026 but there has been speculation he could be targeted by Saudi clubs in the summer window.

However, the forward says a move to the Middle East or Major League Soccer is not on the horizon.

Lewandowski won the Pichichi in his first season with Barca but hasn’t quite managed to be as prolific in the current campaign, although he does have 20 goals to his name in all competitions so far.

Barcelona cruised to victory as Robert Lewandowski scored a second-half hat-trick after Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was sent off.

But they had Mamardashvili sent off just before half-time and the 35-year-old Poland striker took full advantage.

Lewandowski equalised early in the second half with a header then nodded in a rebound before getting his third from a free-kick in added time.

Barcelona remain second in La Liga, 11 points behind Real Madrid with five games remaining.

Valencia stay eighth and face a battle to qualify for Europe next season as they lie four points behind sixth-place Real Sociedad.

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski was happy to speak out after scoring a hat-trick against Valencia in La Liga on Monday.

The hosts came from 2-1 down to win 4-2 in Barca’s first match since Xavi announced he would be staying on for another season.

Here’s what Lewandowski made of it and his thoughts on Barca’s comeback.

“No, it wasn’t easy at all. In the first half we didn’t have much space going forward but I think the most important thing is that if we concede one or two we can score three or four. This is Barca and we need to play attacking football, we need to score many goals and that makes life a lot easier,” he said.

“We knew in the second half we had to play quicker, to be patient, to not to take too many touches, to keep the ball high up the pitch, to find the free man in space and at the end we scored four goals and we have three points.

“Normally we have a lot of opportunities to score goals and that makes things easier for me. Having chances is the first step and then at the end if the whole team plays well offensively then my life becomes easier.

“Now we can look ahead to the next game against Girona. The more goals we score, the easier it is for me and for everyone. My hat-trick comes from the work of the entire team.”

The win moves Barcelona back into second place ahead of a trip to Girona up next in La Liga on Saturday.