Barcelona have just won their first La Liga title since 2019, but there are as many questions as there are answers hanging over the side for next season. Xavi Hernandez finally found a system that made sense for the Blaugrana, but already he will be looking at major alterations.
Sergio Busquets has announced that he will leave the club at the end of the season, which will alter the shape of Barcelona’s midfield. Meanwhile there is plenty of talk that Lionel Messi may also return to the club in the summer, which would require a change of shape too. The Argentine can no longer do the defending of a classic wide forward, and thus requires a move away from a classic 4-3-3.
It is looking like a tricky task for Barcelona to bring in another holding midfielder of Busquets’ quality, but one player they have been heavily linked with is Manchester City lynchpin Ilkay Gundogan. The 32-year-old is out of contract in the summer, and Barcelona are said to be locked in negotiations, as per Sport.
The German midfielder has given the go ahead for the signing though, and it is a case of working out the numbers between the two, as per their information. Confidence the deal will happen is described as ‘very high’ within Can Barca.
It begs the question as to how Xavi should use him, given Gundogan’s versatility. Perhaps the simplest answer is as a direct pivot in the role Busquets used to play, as the deepest of a three. Gundogan does have more legs left in him than Busquets, but it is a role which would limit him in terms of the areas of the pitch he is in, removing his creative element in the box.
Perhaps the role that role that would work best would be as a replacement for the Busquets of this season, alongside de Jong in a double pivot of sorts. It would allow de Jong to start from deeper but also to attack at times, while also giving him some more freedom to get forward.
Alternatively, Gundogan could operate as a pure ‘interior’, similarly to the way Xavi himself used to do. That would perhaps be the role that best suits his skillset, and yet it would to a degree mean sacrificing de Jong into a deeper a role.
Should Barcelona move to a diamond-style midfield in case Messi joins, he would probably be used on one of the sides of that diamond. It would give him freedom to move in attack, falling wide or getting into the box at times too. Although it would also likely mean sacrificing de Jong at the base of midfield, and significant running for Gundogan in defence, who would potentially be asked to double up with his full-back when in defence.
Obviously positions are not fixed, and these roles can be altered and changed with and without the ball too. Even so, while Gundogan is no doubt a signing that makes the utmost sense from a Barcelona perspective, how and where Xavi chooses to use him does not appear to be an obvious choice.
