Only eight players have survived the transformation that Xavi Hernández has carried out at Barça. Only eight players remain in the squad since the coach entered the Sant Joan Despí locker room on November 9, 2021.
Not even two years have passed, and the intervention of the former midfielder of the best team in history has been as drastic as it is persistent until he has configured a squad to his liking. Or more or less to his liking, due to the financial restrictions that he has found in the club and the inability of the leaders to facilitate the signings that he wanted. On few occasions Joan Laporta has been able to sign the first option that Xavi requested in the plot that Josep Maria Bartomeu left them upon returning to the Camp Nou (before the works).
Without money and with guarantees
Just remember, for example, the impossibility of recovering Lionel Messi last summer or the undisguised will of hire Bernardo Silva, who has renewed for Manchester City to cite two contrasting aspirations that could not be addressed among the hundreds of names that appeared. Joan Laporta and manager Ferran Olivé have had to present a personal guarantee to be able to register Iñaki Peña and Iñigo Martínez at the last minute.
Two goalkeepers (Ter Stegen and Peña, who left for Galatasaray and returned), three defenders (captain Sergi Roberto, Ronald Araujo and Alejandro Balde) and three midfielders (Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Gavi) have resisted the onslaught of constant modeling by Xavi, surely necessary for Barça to try to return to the origins and to the level that the now coach knew between 2008 and 2015, when he left the European champion team with Luis Enrique on the bench.
Julián Araujo was signed in the winter and without having made his debut, he has been loaned to Las Palmas.
One brand new
The maintenance work carried out by Ernesto Valverde, Quique Setién and Ronald Koeman led to the inevitable metamorphosis that has been supervised by Xavi, who has had 19 signings spread across four markets (two winter and two summer) and 57 footballers used before two calendar years of his term have expired.
There would be 58 if the unique Mexican defender Julian Araujo I would have played a single minute. Signed and registered late in January of this year for 4 million euros, the international right-back did not debut with the reserve team or the first team – he played in the post-season friendly against Vissel Kobe – but he appeared in all the photos of the celebrating the League with her striking pink hair.
He is on loan to Las Palmas where he will prove if he has enough level to defend the right wing along with João Cancelo, incorporated at the last minute to alleviate that unusual void in said field plot. He hasn’t played either. Arnau Tenas, by the way, the third goalkeeper who has left for PSG on a free transfer. Nor Miralem Pjanic.
Barça is the second team that has spent the least (3.4 million) on transfers after Athletic (0 euros).
Less than Cádiz
The deal with Araujo might seem like a sign of waste if it weren’t for the fact that Barça’s economic hardships are sufficiently proven. It is the second First Division team that has spent the least after Athletic Bilbao’s zero euros.
The 3.4 million paid to Girona for Oriol Romeu They have been the miserable Barça investment in the past market; even lower than that of Cádiz (3.5), something that in other times would embarrass the Catalans, at the opposite end of the 129.5 million spent by Real Madrid, their direct competitor. In the European investment classification, Barça does not even appear.
200 million between four
The exopulent Barça club has made a virtue of necessity, since 11 of those 18 signings and/or loans have been at zero cost. Free. After the huge expenditure made by Ferran Torres in the winter of 21-22 (55 million plus 10 in variables), the only money has been spent on Raphinha (58+9), Robert Lewandowski (45+5) and Jules Koundé (50+ 5). Between four footballers they account for a large part of the 222.4 million. Another 30+31 have also been signed for the future arrival of Brazilian Vitor Roque.
The club has closed the purchase of Vitor Roque (30 million plus 31 in variables)
The eight survivors have seen 34 teammates disappear from the locker room since Xavi appeared. Some will return, like Eric Garcia and Ansu Fati, reluctantly given up by the coach, and others have fired twice. Sergiño Dest, Clément Lenglet, Samuel Umtiti, Nico González and Ez Abde have gone and returned to Barça without convincing Xavi to retain them during their loans.
Xavi has promoted the debut of 12 youth players, but there are only 7 in the squad, the lowest rate in years.
The homegrown players go down
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Others lasted just half a year: Dani Alves, Pierre Aubameyang and Adama Traoré helped the team in the second half of the 21-22 League when Barça was ninth and only wanted to qualify for the Champions League. Philipe Coutinho couldn’t last ten games before he left for Aston Villa; Miralem Pjanic did not even pass the preseason. More difficult for Xavi was dealing with veterans and old friends. Gerard Piqué, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets have not resisted either to the demands of his former partner.
There were three former youth players and, together with the departures of Eric, Ansu and Tenas, the list of La Masia representatives has been reduced to the very low level of seven units, unusual. Although with Xavi 12 young promises have debuted, the last Fermín López. Lamine Yamal invites us to maintain hope for the new era.
