Xavi, resounding with the situation of the discarded players

If anything characterizes Xavi Hernández as a coach, it is his honesty and clarity when communicating with his players.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
26 July 2022 Tuesday 08:50
13 Reads
Xavi, resounding with the situation of the discarded players

If anything characterizes Xavi Hernández as a coach, it is his honesty and clarity when communicating with his players. The FC Barcelona project is above all else and the players he has are rowing in the same direction. In the same way, those who, for different reasons, do not fit into the Terrassa coach's plans, have also known for a long time that they must find a way out if they want to play again.

"They will never be apart. They are first-team players, they have trained with us before the United States tour", Xavi declared at the press conference prior to the friendly against Juventus when asked about the five players who have not traveled with him rest of the squad and have stayed in Barcelona.

Specifically, the players he refers to are Samuel Umtiti, Neto, Óscar Mingueza, Riqui Puig and Martin Braithwaite. Although the coach assures that they will not be left aside while they are part of the club, they have known "for some time now, in May", that they will not be included in the schemes of the new Barça project for the 2022-23 season.

Xavi made it clear: "We have to find a solution," he declared. "They are looking for options and we are helping them so that they can have the opportunity to play, because here I already told them that it will be impossible," he stated flatly. "We have time, they too, but they know the situation perfectly, which is that they have to find a team to play with," Xavi said.

It is not a matter of the utmost urgency, but releasing these five players who are not going to participate with the first team is a favorable and necessary move, both for the club, economically and sportingly, and for the players themselves, who, With the exception of Braithwaite and Neto, who are now in their thirties, they are still young and have many years of football ahead of them.

Umtiti has been close to leaving the team in the direction of the French Stade Rennais, although the coach of the French team confirmed that the appearance of other market opportunities knocked down the operation. Neto, for his part, seems to be in the orbit of Napoli and Fulham, according to Sky Sports. The future of Mingueza, according to media such as Sport or Superdeporte, could be in another club in the Spanish league. The options of Riqui Puig or Braithwaite seem more stagnant. At the moment there are few firm possibilities and we will have to wait to see what direction the sports careers of each of them take.