SETTABLOID

With not much left to play for this season, FC Barcelona are already planning things for the next campaign, with the summer transfer window on the horizon.

There will be some exits for certain, while there is hope for making some big signings, provided the club reach the 1:1 rule for the summer.

At the same time, Barcelona also need to take a call on the players who are out on loan. While some like Clement Lenglet and Sergino Dest have no future, Eric Garcia would be welcomed by Xavi, although the player himself is uncertain about a return.

Chadi Riad to be re-signed?

Another player whom Barcelona are keeping a close watch on is Chadi Riad. On loan at Real Betis, the Moroccan international’s move will be made permanent due to a €3 million mandatory purchase clause.

However, according to SPORT, Barcelona have a buyback clause worth €7 million inserted in the agreement which they intend to activate this summer.

t is claimed that Xavi is an admirer of Riad and sees him as a ‘great centre-back’ with good ball control.

Given the impressive season that the La Masia ace has enjoyed with Los Verdiblancos, Barcelona intend to bring him back, in a deal that would essentially cost only €4 million.

Riad unlikely to stay

Even if Barcelona do end up triggering the repurchase clause for Riad, it is unlikely that the youngster will stay at the club.

The Blaugrana already are blessed with riches in the defensive department and there is unlikely to be much space for Riad if he does come back.

As such, the report states that Barcelona could plan to use the Moroccan as a makeweight in potential player exchange deals for one of their intended targets.

Girona have reportedly expressed an interest in signing Barcelona captain Sergi Roberto in the summer transfer window.

Roberto is coming to the end of his contract and is facing an uncertain future at the club right now, although Xavi’s decision to stay is likely to be good news for the veteran.

Xavi has already said publicly he wants Barca to offer Roberto a new contract for another season.

Mundo Deportivo are now reporting that Girona are keen on tempting Roberto away from Barcelona if he is moved on in the summer.

Girona would be able to offer a longer contract, European football and the chance to stay close to Barcelona.

It’s not clear at this point what will happen with Roberto. He has spoken of a desire to move to Major League Soccer at some point in the future but Girona may be an offer he’d consider.

One of the main objectives for FC Barcelona heading into the summer window is to strengthen the pivot midfield position.

Having signed Oriol Romeu to address the departure of Sergio Busquets last summer, Barcelona have seen that manoeuvre fail spectacularly, with the ex-Girona man fully out of favour now.

As such, Xavi Hernandez, set to continue as manager, is seeking a top player for the position, but the financial situation might not allow for it, although there is hope that the club will sign if they return to the 1:1 rule.

At the same time, though, having seen talents like Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi explode in the first-team level, Barcelona could look to repeat the trick by promoting someone from La Masia.

To that end, SPORT reports that Barcelona might look at two homegrown solutions for the pivot midfield position for next season.

Marc Casado

The current captain of Barça Atletic, Marc Casado has featured a few times for the first team but has never gotten an extended run. The youngster’s contract expires at the end of the season and Barça want to renew his contract until 2027.

At the age of 20, Casado is fully prepared to make the leap to the senior team. He understands the game well and is familiar with the club’s philosophy while also being able to play as a right-back.

Marc Bernal

From the same class as Yamal and Cubarsi, from 2007, Marc Bernal is a midfielder who has a very high ceiling. At 16 years of age, he has played 24 games for Barça Atletic.

A physical specimen given his young age, Bernal stands at 1.90m tall, possesses a great left foot, and can operate as a pivot or an interior.

With the season all but over for Barcelona, the focus has now shifted towards planning for the next campaign and one of the key priorities for the team will be to sign a new No. 6.

Sergio Busquets’ exit last summer left a huge hole for Barcelona which summer signing Oriol Romeu has been unable to fill.

As such, Xavi, who will continue as manager for next season, is prioritising quality reinforcement for the position.

However, any move would be dictated by the financial situation. If the Catalans are able to return to the 1:1 rule, they plan to go after a ‘top’ player in the market.

If not, SPORT reports that the Catalans might look to sign ‘low-cost’ veterans who are currently plying their trade outside Europe but could jump at the chance of returning.

Marco Verratti

The 31-year-old plays in the Qatari league for Al-Arabi after leaving PSG in the summer, but could welcome a return to Europe.

For many years Verratti sounded like a possible reinforcement for Barcelona, but he always stayed at PSG before trying the Qatari adventure.

At 31, he is still at the age to compete at a high level and perhaps a return to the Italian national team is still possible, which could motivate him to move back to Europe.

Marcelo Brozovic

Another player who has been on Barcelona’s radar, Brozovic left Inter Milan for Saudi Arabia to play for Al-Nasrr last summer after the Catalans failed to make an appealing offer.

Unlike Verratti, Brozovic continues to be linked to elite football as he is a regular in the Croatia national team, with which he will play the Euros in Germany.

A return to Europe to continue playing at the highest level, like his compatriot Luka Modric, may tempt Brozovic.

FC Barcelona have been devoid of a lot of efficiency this season in terms of their goal scorers. Robert Lewandowski, for instance, is no longer the prolific ace that he was last season and previously for Bayern as well. Instead, the goals that have ultimately come for Barcelona have come in great divisions.

Various goal scorers have come forth this season and have divided the totality of goals between them. In total, Barcelona has managed to score 95 goals this season, averaging two goals per game. However, while the tallies for the typical suspects carry the largest percentage of goals, the statistics show a different aspect of things as well.

While Lewandowski remains the top scorer for Barcelona this season with 20 goals, he is far away from being the most efficient. According to the data highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, it is instead two surprising names who manage to take the title of being Barça’s most efficient forwards in front of goal.

The first on this list of clinical forwards is Marc Guiu, with the Spaniard being Barça’s most efficient striker of the ball. Despite barely playing as compared to the other forwards on this list, the young striker manages to average one goal every 91 minutes.

The other closest name on the list is that of Vitor Roque, the newest Brazilian arrival for FC Barcelona. Despite having played just 310 minutes in total for Barcelona this season, the 19-year-old forward has scored twice already. This brings his average to a goal every 155 minutes.

Both these young strikers aspire to do great things at Barcelona, and they continue to fight for their place despite the many hurdles. In fact, recent reports have claimed that Guiu remains determined to renew with Barcelona and even take on the challenge from his Brazilian teammate to continue representing Barça at the highest level.

Bradley Barcola has been talking about PSG’s Champions League clash with Barcelona and the crucial play that saw Ronald Araujo sent off for a last-man foul on the winger.

The red card changed the game entirely and saw PSG recover from going a goal down in the second leg to win and progress to the semi-finals.

Here’s what Barcola made of the incident:

Araujo came in for criticism from team-mate Ilkay Gundogan after the match which did not sit well with the Uruguayan. He did, however, send out a message to supporters to say he was “very sorry” the team couldn’t secure a place in the last four.

Following the controversial 3-2 loss against Real Madrid last weekend, FC Barcelona return to action on Monday night when they take on Valencia on home turf.

The defeat to Real Madrid meant that Barça are now 11 points behind the leaders and the La Liga title race is done and dusted.

The Catalans will now aim to finish second in the standings so as to qualify for the Spanish Super Cup for the next season.

Preparations have been underway for the visit of Valencia, with the Barcelona players training hard over the week. However, there has been a notable absentee from the Catalans’ group sessions.

Pedri not in group training

Indeed, as reported by Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona fan-favourite midfielder Pedri has not been training with the rest of the team throughout this week.

Given his injury history, Barça are exercising caution with the 21-year-old midfielder following his efforts over the past couple of weeks.

Having been out with an injury, Pedri pushed himself to be back to face PSG in the UEFA Champions League and then Real Madrid in La Liga and featured in both matches.

As such, in order to manage his workload, Barcelona have not had the 21-year-old train with the rest of the group this week.

Instead, the midfield gem has been working by himself in the gym at the club’s Ciutat Esportiva facilities.

Pedri will be available to face Valencia

While Pedri might not have trained with the rest of the squad this week, there are no doubts or concerns about his availability to face Valencia on Monday night.

As mentioned earlier, the only reason he has not trained with the team is to manage his workload and go through his recovery after the efforts of last week.

The Spanish international is expected to be ready to face Ruben Baraja’s men when they visit Estadi Lluis Companys on Monday night.

Having ensured the continuity of Xavi Hernandez on the bench for the next season, FC Barcelona will now have to make efforts to provide the head coach with some quality reinforcements to assemble a competitive team for the next season.

For this purpose, the club is working to achieve its goal of returning to the 1:1 rule, which would allow them to spend every Euro they generate from sales in purchasing new players.

The Catalan club’s main priority is to get a new midfield pivot in the coming summer, but other than that, Xavi also wants a winger to reinforce his attack from the left wing. In this regard, SPORT reports that Barcelona have set the Napoli forward, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as one of their targets.

Xavi was impressed by the player when his team faced Napoli in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, even though his own team was far superior to the Italians and was the clear winner of the tie.

The Georgian winger’s future is highly uncertain at the Italian club, and the next week could be crucial. His agent is expected to visit the club to negotiate with the Napoli President for a renewal, but these negotiations can easily break down as the player has other plans for his future, and is looking for a transfer.

This is where the Blaugranes come into play, as Barcelona is one of the clubs that the winger would be looking to join to advance his career. Napoli are reported to be willing to triple Kvaratskhelia’s current €1.5 million salary, but even such a rise is not going to change the player’s mind.

If Napoli are unable to qualify for the Champions League, the door will be wide open for the 23-year-old Georgian winger to leave. However, Napoli will still be in control as the player has a contract till 2027 with the club.

Barcelona’s midfield has had the honour of harbouring an array of talented players over the years.

But one that often slips under the radar is Ivan Rakitic, who contributed considerably in his 310 games for the Catalan giants.

The Croatian was recently inducted into Barcelona’s ‘Legends’ list, as he is recognized as one of the key architects behind the team’s successes during his tenure.

Now, Rakitic has opened up about several topics related to Barça on the ARLS podcast.

Playing with the best

Rakitic made an early impression under Luis Enrique by phasing out Xavi Hernandez from the starting XI in the 2014/2015 season.

The 36-year-old proved to be a versatile operator and offered a different profile to the options Barcelona already possessed, which allowed the team to strike a balance in midfield.

When I joined Barcelona, I knew that I would play with Iniesta, Xavi, and Busquets. I knew that I had to change my playing style,” Rakitic acknowledged.

While Barcelona’s midfield was no slouch, it was the team’s attack that often stole the spotlight.

Rakitic remarked that playing alongside the formidable trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar Jr. was an incredible experience.

But he emphasized that their success was made possible by the stability provided by defensive and midfield support.

“Of course, I can say that I enjoyed playing with Messi, Neymar and Suarez. Hopefully, they say that they enjoyed playing with Rakitic too.

“They scored 100 goals per season, but they couldn’t have done it without the support at the back,” Rakitic stated.

How his signing came about

The Croatian midfielder admitted his signing transpired smoothly before the 2014 World Cup and was completed in a matter of just three days.

“Before the World Cup in Brazil, Barcelona contacted me. It was Zubizarreta who spoke to me, then Luis Enrique. We completed the signing in three days,” he claimed.

The high standards set at Barcelona

While Barcelona are yet to taste European success, fans fondly reminisce about the 2015 Champions League win. Rakitic confessed it was an iconic season.

“I think we had the best season in Champions League history. We beat the French, English, German, and then the Italian champions in the final,” he exclaimed.

He added that, in addition to winning, playing well was a crucial pre-requisite at Barcelona.

“In one of my first matches for Barcelona, we won 6-0 and I scored a goal. The first question in the post-match interview was that we did not play well.

“That’s when I knew that just winning is not enough at Barça. They want to win and play well,” Rakitic said.

Barcelona’s Champions League woes

Touching upon the harrowing defeats Barcelona suffered at the hands of AS Roma and Liverpool in 2018 and 2019, Rakitic said one of the reasons Barça failed is because they lost the hunger to keep winning.

“We lost the Champions League in 2018 and 2019 by ourselves. The opponents deserved it of course, but it felt like we didn’t try enough.

“Perhaps we were bored of winning. When you win so much, you lose focus, you don’t pay attention to the details,” the midfielder remarked.

When asked if pressure is one of the reasons that Barcelona have not won the Champions League since 2015, Rakitic answered:

“Yes. And there’s additional pressure because Real Madrid has won it a lot.”

Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti was on Thursday asked for his take on the decision of Barcelona counterpart Xavi to go back on his decision to step down upon the season’s close.

The headline news across the Spanish football landscape across the day to date has of course come in the form of Xavi’s continuity on the Barcelona bench.