Barcelona are working out the best course of action following a serious injury to one of their star midfielders Gavi, which will keep him out for the rest of the season. The Blaugrana can sign a replacement free of their salary limit restrictions until the end of the season for up to 80% of Gavi’s wages, and already, several names have been mentioned.
The likes of Guido Rodriguez at Real Betis and Thiago Alcantara, players whose contracts are expiring at the end of the season, are emerging as potential candidates for a move in the January transfer window.
Yet according to multiple reports, including from Sport, manager Xavi Hernandez already has a preferred option in mind. Following a training session on Tuesday, he held a meeting with Sporting Director Deco to discuss their options, and Xavi was both in favour of making an addition, and keen to return to one of their summer targets.
🚨 Barcelona may be able to pull off the signing of Lo Celso on loan on January. @martinezferran pic.twitter.com/I8lVB3KJec
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) November 22, 2023
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Giovani Lo Celso remained at Spurs in order to see how things would go under Ange Postecoglou, but has once again found himself very much on the outside looking in. So far, he has played just 83 minutes.
Strong on the ball, capable of playing deeper or in the final third, Lo Celso has the ability to threat a pass through a defence too. However the latest from North London is that Lo Celso will not be allowed to leave in January – the feeling is that he will be given more game time to address Spurs’ own injury crisis over the coming month before January.
If they are not open to a deal, there will be little Barcelona can do but move onto their next target. The Blaugrana will not be able to negotiate a major fee for Lo Celso, and so any move is highly dependent on the Argentine international being surplus to requirements.