Following Gavi’s season-ending knee injury last weekend, Barcelona have been left one man light in midfield. With Pedri and Frenkie de Jong having only just returned from their own injuries, Xavi Hernandez may be forced into using the pair more than he would like because of his lack of options.
Until the winter transfer window at least, Barcelona will use their academy to fill the void left by Gavi. Unai Hernandez, Aleix Garrido and Marc Casado are among the options available to Xavi, although as Sport have reported, he won’t be able to call upon the latter for this weekend’s trip to Rayo Vallecano.
Casado accumulated a one-match ban before the international break after picking up a fifth yellow card of the season for Barca Atletic, and he cannot play for the first team until he serves this suspension.
It means that Casado is not to be part of the Barcelona squad for the match against Rayo, although he will be allowed to play going forward, starting with the Champions League clash with Porto on Tuesday.
Frenkie and Pedri are back. No worries. Casado wasn’t going to get significant minutes anyway. As long as everybody is able to stay healthy Xavi has plenty of midfielders.
The big deal is that Vitor Roque will arrive in January.