It’s hard to define Barcelona’s transfer policy since Xavi took the hot seat in 2021.
Scattergun would be harsh, but pinpointing a particular strategy is tricky. Xavi, however, has helped cultivate a winning team, even if they’ve struggled in Europe thus far.
The club’s financial woes have ensured the former Barça midfielder hasn’t had it easy on the recruitment front. Still, some savvy lever-pulling last summer facilitated a La Liga title in 2022/23 as Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde both played vital roles in the club’s triumph.
Barça are again working on a shoestring budget this summer as they attempt to assert themselves at the summit of Spanish football once more. The free agent market is one they might have to dabble in as the window wears on, and here are a few familiar options for Xavi to consider.
Some might label it insanity if Barcelona go back in for former academy graduate Adama Traore following his underwhelming loan spell in 2022.
Unstoppable on his day, Traore’s inconsistency and technical limitations have deterred many clubs from ever making a move to sign the Spanish international. Barça did take the plunge midway through the 2021/22 campaign when Xavi was at the helm, but he was quickly ostracised despite a bright enough start to his loan spell.
The club unsurprisingly opted against buying Traore permanently at the end of the season, but hey, he’s available again, folks! Round three?
Cut from the same cloth as other great Spanish number tens of his generation, Isco enjoyed his peak years in the capital as opposed to Catalonia. Thus, Isco never combined with Xavi at club level, but their international careers did just about intertwine.
Isco’s senior debut arrived in 2013, a year before Xavi called it quits with La Roja. The former Barcelona midfielder wasn’t in the squad when Isco made his debut against Uruguay in a friendly, and the two never actually featured alongside one another despite being named in several Spain squads together.
While Isco enjoyed great collective success at Real Madrid, he didn’t quite live up to his early projections as a youngster. He left Los Blancos in 2022 and spent last season at Sevilla, but he’s now without a club and it’s unclear just how long he’s got left at the highest level.
Xavi’s elegance and Sergio Ramos’ robust aggression came to define the great ideological duel between Spain’s two behemoths when Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola were marauding the Clasico touchline.
The two were perhaps never the best of friends given how entrenched each were in their respective club’s ideals, but there’s no doubting the underlying respect they had for one another. They met countless times during what was for a period the fiercest duel European football had to offer.
Xavi often hit out at Real’s agricultural antics, of which Ramos was a staunch defender. Nevertheless, the pair seemed to put their club allegiances aside when representing the national team. Together, Ramos and Xavi won two European Championships and the 2010 World Cup as Spain emerged as the planet’s footballing Mecca.
Ramos, who is six years Xavi’s junior, is on the market after a two-year spell in Paris. A move to Barcelona is near-impossible, but the fantasy is Hollywood-worthy.
Alexis spent three years at Barcelona with Xavi before moving to the Premier League in 2014. The Chilean dazzled without ever being regarded as a protagonist in Catalonia, and it wasn’t until he signed for Arsenal that Alexis’ reputation soared.
The creative, but also prolific, forward reached superstardom in north London, with the current Barça boss labelling his former teammate as ‘one of the best attacking players in the world’ while he was tearing it up at Arsenal.
An ill-fated move to Man Utd damaged Alexis’ reputation somewhat, but while he’s since failed to reach the highs of his Arsenal stint, the Chilean legend proved more than serviceable for Antonio Conte at Inter before enjoying a fine season with Marseille in Ligue 1.
Now 34 and without a club, could the veteran enjoy one last hurrah in Catalonia?
While one half of Barcelona’s greatest midfield duo is calling the shots at Camp Nou these days, the other is determined to keep playing following his departure from Vissel Kobe.
Andres Iniesta, now 39, epitomised Barcelona and is perhaps the only person on the planet who will understand Xavi’s methods as well as the boss himself. His legs are likely gone but Iniesta’s mind is still sharper than almost anyone on the planet.
Xavi and Iniesta pulled the strings in Barcelona’s midfield in front of Sergio Busquets, and it looks like a reunion with the latter could be on the cards as Iniesta is of interest to Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami, but a return to Catalonia would be just as fascinating.
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