Spanish giants FC Barcelona are reportedly planning to clean house in the January transfer window and could offload as many as five players. Barcelona are planning to offload Samuel Umtiti, Luuk de Jong, Philippe Coutinho, Oscar Mingueza, and Sergino Dest next month.
The 26-time La Liga giants recently sacked their manager Ronald Koeman and have replaced him with club legend Xavi. The Spaniard is trying to elevate his beloved team to a higher level of football but has not been able to catch a break yet.
Following a La Liga defeat to Real Betis last weekend, Barcelona were subjected to a 3-0 UEFA Champions League group stage defeat at Bayern Munich. The crushing defeat means Barcelona have failed to qualify for the Champions League knockouts for the first time since 2001.
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The disappointing result has not sat well with anyone at Barcelona, especially not Xavi. The 2010 World Cup winner wants to start selling deadwood as soon as possible and he is not prepared to wait until the summer window.
As per Sport, Xavi’s posse has identified Umtiti, De Jong, Coutinho, Mingueza, and Dest as weak links, and Barcelona are ready to listen to offers for them.
Umtiti has been out of favor at Barcelona for a while now and is yet to play a single minute under Xavi. De Jong loves to chase long balls, but Xavi’s system has no use for players of his particular skill set. Coutinho is a player Xavi personally likes, but his wage bill is weighing heavily on Barcelona’s shoulders.
Oscar Mingueza built some momentum under Koeman, but the La Masia graduate is not up to Xavi’s Barcelona’s standards. Dest is arguably the only player on the list who can thrive in Xavi’s system. Barcelona, however, are not keen to bet on Dest and would rather count on Dani Alves to put in impressive shifts after he returns.
Fortunately for Barcelona, Dest is rated highly by many clubs and should have no trouble finding suitors.
Newly-appointed Barcelona coach Xavi is annoyed by the state of his beloved club and has urged them to bounce back as soon as possible. Xavi has also admitted that Bayern Munich played better football in their Champions League matchday-six clash but believes Barcelona deserves better going ahead. He claims that many circumstances have contributed to the Blaugrana’s downfall.
Save for a miraculous recovery in La Liga, Barcelona will find it difficult to keep up with league leaders Real Madrid. Los Blancos currently have an eight-point advantage over second-placed Sevilla and are leading Barcelona by 16 points. (AF)
