An insight into the stellar efforts of soon-to-be former Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernández to reinforce the club’s squad prior to the 2023/24 campaign has been forthcoming this week.
The info comes courtesy of Cadena Ser, who have revealed that Xavi had set his sights on a trio of high-profile midfield additions.
In fact, the report goes as far as to state that the Spanish tactician had convinced all three to take their respective talents to Catalunya.
The players in question? Bernardo Silva, Joshua Kimmich, and Martín Zubimendi.
In the end, Barca of course failed to secure deals for any of the trio, instead bringing in Oriol Romeu, İlkay Gündogan, Íñigo Martínez, João Félix and João Cancelo as reinforcements for the season.
So, what exactly happened?
Cadena Ser add that, whilst Xavi had high hopes when it came to the Blaugrana’s recruitment strategy, he was quickly brought back down to earth by way of a conversation with sporting director Deco.
This came upon the 44-year-old being informed that ‘it was totally impossible for Barça to compete by bringing in people of that category’.
Whether as much played any role in Xavi’s decision to step down from his post this summer, remains unclear…
Conor Laird | GSFN
