Shortly before leaving Barcelona, Leo Messi x-rayed the team’s situation with a poisoned dart to the heart of the still president Josep Maria Bartomeu. “There has been no project or anything for a long time, they are juggling and covering holes as things happen,” he denounced. Laporta arrived and sports planning continued along the same path, with the exception of Rosario’s departure for PSG_when his renewal was confirmed. The deep remodeling of the squad that Xavi has demanded this season to put the club back on the path to victory highlights the club’s lousy sports planning last season, which brought in ten new players (six are no longer here, two are very close to leaving and the remaining two are not undisputed starters) and made eight footballers from the lower categories debut (only Gavi has been consolidated and Balde depends on the arrival of Marcos Alonso, currently a priority objective). Laporta invested 70.5 million in transfers (plus another ten in variables), since seven of the ten incorporations arrived free or with the letter of freedom under their arms. He tried to satisfy Koeman with six registrations in the summer. Emerson Royal (cost 15 million) played three games and was transferred despite him, and the Dutch coach, to Tottenham for 25 million euros. Kun Agüero had to retire hastily after playing only five games. Yusuf Demir was the star of Gamper but he returned to Rapid Wien after the second training session with Xavi. The Austrian had arrived on loan for half a million euros. Eric García (37 official games) is the only one who seems to have settled in a squad that has been reinforced this June in defense with the arrival of Christensen (freedom card)_and Koundé (55 million plus 10 in variables). Luuk de Jong, registered on the buzzer, has already returned to Sevilla after his loan, after 29 games and 7 goals. He did not convince Xavi. Like Memphis Depay (he arrived at zero cost), he negotiates his signing for Juventus despite the fact that he scored 13 goals in the 38 games played last year. Xavi arrived in November and denounced the shortcomings of the team, demanding reinforcements up front. SE hired Ferran Torres (55 million plus 10 in variables), who is now a substitute; Adama Traoré (21 games, one goal), whose buyback clause was not enforced, and Aubameyang (24 games, 13 goals), who is very close to joining Chelsea due to the club’s need to lighten the wage bill for to be able to register Koundé. Nor has Dani Alves followed, signed in January. Related News standard No Soccer Xavi surrenders to Casemiro Sergi Font standard No Transfer market This is how the squads of the First Division teams of the SD League remain La Masía was the handle on which Koeman and Xavi held on to avoid injuries and poor performance. None of the players from Egar (Ilias, Jutglá, Estanis, Álvaro Sanz and Mika Mármol) will have a leading role this season. Of the three that Koeman went up (Gavi, Balde and Ez Abde) only the Andalusian has triumphed and the future of the side depends on the arrival of Marcos Alonso. This year there has been a commitment to five new additions (Christensen, Kessie, Raphinha, Lewandowski and Jules Koundé) which have involved an investment of more than 150 million euros. Despite everything, Xavi is still waiting for the arrival of two full-backs and does not rule out signing a new striker if Memphis and Aubameyang finally leave. “We are going to value it. We have to see how the template looks. The priority is to enroll Koundé. There is a market that ends on August 31 and we will see what will happen. Neither Aubameyang nor Memphis have come out and against Real Sociedad we can use them. Aubameyang could be important in this game, but we will see the circumstances”, explained the coach after Friday’s morning training session, prior to tonight’s game (10:00 p.m. / Movistar LaLiga) at Anoeta, in which he will not be able to count on Busquets, sanctioned for his red card against Rayo.
