BARCELONA
Xavi’s No.1 priority Juan Foyth tells Villarreal he wants to play for Barça
The Catalan giants are working to sign the World Cup champion with Argentina and the player has already told Villarreal what his intentions are.
Barcelona management are facing long and intense summer days, as Els Blaugranes are playing their first 2023-24 LaLiga match against Gefate on Sunday and they need to get all of their players registered in time.
That problem seems about to be resolved, as the club has announced that a new economic lever worth €120 million ($132 million) has been activated.
With that amount of money, Barcelona will be able to register all the remaining players in LaLiga, and there will possibly be a margin also for potential signings to strengthen the team in a season where Barça fans will ask for better results in Europe.
After defeating Tottenham in the Joan Gamper Trophy game, coach Xavi Hernández admitted in a post-match interview that more signings are needed to try to fight for all the titles, especially with Ousmane Dembélé's departure to Paris Saint-Germain.
Foyth, Barça’s fifth addition?
With the additions of Íñigo Marínez, Ilkay Gundogan, Oriol Romeu, and Vitor Roque, Xavi wants to find three top-quality players in three positions: a right-back as a priority, a midfielder, and a forward who can play alongside Robert Lewandowski.
Given Lamine Yamal’s performance against the Spurs, he could be Barça’s big bet in the attack this campaign, but he’s only 16 and Xavi believes he shouldn’t be taking that much pressure that early.
Roque, already signed, was expected to join the team in January and not now, due to the LaLiga Fair Play rules. Barcelona now have the cash to register him but Athletico Paranaense don’t want to let his star go until the season in Brazil is over.
However, Xavi’s main concern is at the right-back spot, which he truly believes needs to be covered by a top player who can replace Alejandro Balde with guarantees in a season full of matches and potential injuries.
The Argentinian Juan Foyth has been Xavi’s favorite candidate to play in that spot, but Villarreal don’t want to let their player go.
Although Barcelona are aware that signing him is a difficult mission, they received some good news. As per Jijantes FC journalist Gerard Romero, Foyth has told his club that he wants to move to the Catalonian capital.
Barça have till August 31 to try to sign the player, when the summer transfer market comes to an end, but time is running else and their attempts haven’t been successful so far.
Joao Cancelo, Iván Fresneda, and Pablo Maffeo have been considered as other options if Foyth finally doesn’t end up in Barcelona.