Barcelona are set to take on Girona this Saturday in an all-Catalan derby which is sure to be well-contested between two sides with similar playing styles. Ahead of the game, Xavi Hernandez admitted that while he is happy with his squad, they are short at right-back.
With MD claiming that Barcelona are €200m away from being able to register new signings, it calls into question their entire squad planning for next season. If that is the case, it might lead to a fire-sale at Camp Nou in the summer. This is posited as the reason Barcelona cannot add Gavi and Ronald Araujo to the first-team squad.
Xavi maintained that he was calm about Gavi and Araujo’s deals, before being asked about the right-back spot as a potential weakness.
“The squad is very well made, I am very happy with the squad and we have to compete.”
“It’s true that we don’t have a natural, natural option at right-back… Except for Hector [Bellerin], but we have good options there. There are no complaints from me.”
Xavi almost seemed to add in Bellerin as an afterthought, and the reality is, that follows his selections. The former Arsenal defender has been used almost exclusively as a rotational option this season.
Their opponents Girona are in possession of two of the most promising full-backs in Spain, with the Blaugrana being linked to Arnau Martinez earlier in the season.
“He’s a very good full-back, Miguel [Gutierrez] too. Very gifted, strong in duels, he has a lot of personality. He’s very interesting, yes.”
