Barcelona's sporting director, Anderson Luis de Souza, 'Deco', considers, in an interview with the EFE agency, that midfielder Gavi, seriously injured in his knee, is a footballer who does not have a natural replacement. “Today, Gavi is a player who cannot be replaced. There is no player available on the market to do his job, neither with his mentality, nor with his ability. Arguing about replacing Gavi is a mistake; It is a mistake to think that we are going to find a player to replace him. We will not find him," said Deco, who added: "We are not going to go crazy with Gavi's injury. "It's sad for him, for us as a club, but we won't find a replacement."
However, that does not mean that Barcelona is not going to scan the market in search of a player who can increase the roster of midfielders in the squad, while also considering whether it can also incorporate the signed Vitor Roque. "The incorporation of Vitor Roque will be based on 'fair play'. Depending on what we generate, we would do it. With Gavi's injury, a new scenario arises and we are going to evaluate it based on what we can do. We are seeing "On an economic level, what can we do," says Deco.
The sports director knows that the task, from an economic and football point of view, will not be easy. "In January, important players play for their teams and I don't see it as easy to sign an important player who can give us things in the winter market."
Deco admitted that he and Xavi are in a period of reflection. "We are assimilating what has happened to us, we are looking, seeing what we have and we will make a decision. First, finding a replacement for Gavi is impossible. Second, incorporating another player will depend on what suits us best. If it is one or there are two (another besides Vitor Roque) will depend on the economic margin," he added.
Deco is against the pessimistic discourse that may have generated the latest results of the team led by Xavi Hernández. "We are fighting for all the competitions. The Shakhtar game was the game in which we have been worst of the entire season. But we have already overcome the most difficult moment of the season, in which it has coincided that we have had three or four players out important," he highlighted.
And, in that sense, it draws attention to the injuries to important players that Barcelona has suffered at the beginning of the season. "Of course we have to play better, but let us never forget that we have had two of the best players in the world in the center of the field, like Frenkie de Jong and Pedri, who have not been there for a long time."
Deco has complete confidence in Xavi, with whom he met on the pitch during his time as a Barça player.
"I hope that his project is long, that we are at the beginning, not in the middle. From the beginning, whenever I was with the president (Joan Laporta) I strongly defended the arrival of Xavi, because Barça needed to rebuild with people who know the club "And Xavi is a coach who gave you that ability and that peace of mind to be able to build a team."
"We have won a very important league and we are managing to build a team for the present and the future, and that is the way. We all know that it is important that results arrive and we also want to play good football, but I believe that Xavi has all the elements to do it well," he noted.
