With the footballing schedule so incredibly stacked, it becomes the responsibility of the coaches to keep players fit and safe for the mid to long term. However, several managers, especially in Spain, have not done that to the best of their abilities.
Carlo Ancelotti’s hesitation to rotate his Real Madrid team has come to bite him this season, with three players out with ACL injuries, namely Thibaut Courtois, Eder Militao, and most recently, David Alaba.
Xavi and Spain NT coach Luis de la Fuente are also at fault for Gavi’s ACL injury, which has unsurprisingly caused a lot of damage to Barcelona’s season, most evident in their inability to win the ball in midfield against Girona and Valencia.
Without Gavi in the team, Barcelona have been left with Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, and Ilkay Gundogan as starters, while Oriol Romeu and Fermin Lopez are the substitutes available.
However, it is evident that Xavi and co. are not happy with the options available and need to reinforce the midfield in January if they want to compete in all four competitions they are currently alive in.
Joan Laporta has confirmed the same in an interview with Mundo Deportivo.
“If we manage to have a fair play, the idea is to have a midfielder who somehow compensates for Gavi’s loss. It would be a transfer until the end of the season, as we did many years ago with Edgar Davids, for example,” he said.
We have a margin, I think that until the end of the year we can generate ‘fair play’, for a series of operations that we have underway and if they are confirmed, we would have options.
What about Vitor Roque?
It seems the arrival and registration of Vitor Roque is pretty much confirmed at this point, and Barcelona’s pursuit of another midfielder will not change that at any cost.
“He is scheduled to arrive at the end of December or the beginning of January, for this winter market. The idea is that he will be incorporated as soon as possible,” Laporta said about the…
Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/barcelona-president-talks-gavi-roque-cancelo-felix-and-transfer-window-plans-idea-is-to-loan-in-a-midfielder/
Author : Udhav Arora
Publish date : 2023-12-18 13:31:39
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