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With the midfield and attack suffering several injuries and inconsistencies over the last two seasons, the only reliable area Xavi has had is the defence. And more specifically central defence.
Last season, Xavi had the privilege of Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, and Alejandro Balde making up their backline, and the club have only gone ahead and added Inigo Martinez to the mix this season.
The Spaniard has done exceedingly well this season, putting in incredible performances against Athletic Club, Porto, and Real Sociedad, among a few others.
With these four centre-backs, alongside Alejandro Balde and Joao Cancelo, Barcelona have, in theory, one of the strongest defensive cores in European football.
However, as per reports, Barcelona will likely let one of Kounde and Christensen go in the summer as they try to bring in Chadi Riad back from Real Betis.
Interestingly enough, Carlos Monfort has reported that Chadi Riad’s entourage has denied the news about Barcelona’s decision to activate the €7 million buyback clause in the summer.
Barcelona are keeping tabs on his progress at Betis, and have spoke to his agent this week. They informed the agent that they had not made a decision yet.
The Mika Faye case
While Riad enjoys a tremendous breakthrough season at Betis, Barcelona’s very own Mika Faye continues to make progress with Barça Atletic under Rafael Marquez.
The Senegalese defender has done exceedingly well, and is on course to being promoted to the senior team next season if he is able to maintain his form.
Barcelona could also look to sell him and raise some revenue through player sales, though, as the likes of Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, and Girona are said to be interested.
Either way, Barcelona’s defence is far from in perfect form right now, but with several players with a sky-high ceiling in the squad, they should be stored for the next decade or so.
Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/20-year-old-la-liga-defenders-camp-deny-any-move-by-barcelona-for-summer-2024/
Author : Udhav Arora
Publish date : 2023-12-30 18:10:00
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