Barcelona Manager Xavi Hernandez was clear on Monday that he is happy with the squad he has at his disposal, and certainly based on early evidence, the decision to ship out Clement Lenglet, Eric Garcia, Ez Abde and Ansu Fati in order to loan in Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo could pay dividends.
However Xavi has been left with just 19 first team players, and it is no surprise that he is keen to bring in reinforcements in the winter transfer window. Xavi has always made a point of saying that he wants two players for every position. Currently there are two positions that are clearly lacking an alternative – right-back and centre-forward.
Reading between the lines, Xavi Hernandez is keen for the club to bring forward the signing of 18-year-old Brazilian forward Vitor Roque from the summer of 2024 to January.
Now a report from Diario AS has backed that up, saying that Xavi is pushing Deco to make a deal for Roque work, if it is at all possible while considering their salary limit. He wants to avoid Roque picking up further injuries in Brazil, but more pertinently wants competition for Robert Lewandowski, as well as someone to give him a rest, without playing another forward out of position.
La Liga President Javier Tebas has said that a deal for Roque is possible, but likely that there will have to be sales in order to bring him in and register him. It is not immediately obvious who that sale or sales would be, given the shorter squad now under Xavi. It is Deco’s conundrum to solve now.
