Xavi's Barcelona showing Man Utd how a rebuild should be done

James Shearman

Updated: 23 Mar 2022 15:38 GMT
4 min read

Manchester United have been in a period of transition ever since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013, failing to settle on a long-term vision.

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David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have all been unsuccessful in restoring the Red Devils to the heights of the Ferguson era, or even to a single Premier League title.

Now, Ralf Rangnick is tasked with doing so, whether that be as manager or in the proposed supervisory role.

Either way, the German is under serious pressure to close the gap to the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea.

Fortunately, finances have never been an issue for the club, more a case of mismanagement from top to bottom.

And, another advantage is the ability to replicate what other teams have done in similar situations.

For example, Mikel Arteta has turned Arsenal's fortunes around this season, as they look set to qualify for the Champions League.

However, the perfect rebuild for Rangnick to look at is the one of Xavi Hernandez's Barcelona, who just beat Real Madrid 4-0 away from home.

Xavi's Barcelona showing Man Utd how to rebuild

Barcelona's collapse came as a result of a number of terrible transfers, such as Phillipe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann.

The trio signed for La Blaugrana for more than €100 million each, never hitting the form that earned them the moves.

Decisions like this then resulted in the release of legendary forward Lionel Messi last summer, whom they could not afford to keep around any longer.

But, former player Xavi now looks as though he has turned the Catalan club's fortunes around with a handful of interesting strategies.

First, the Spaniard's style of football is in line with the club's ethos, which helps especially with bringing through youngsters from the academy.

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Players at La Masia have been shown to play a certain way for years, and are able to keep building on that with the first-team squad.

Ronald Araujo, Gavi and Ansu Fati have all benefited from this, playing key roles this season.

Second, Barca have operated shrewdly in the transfer market, identifying quality players that are surplus to requirements at other clubs.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Adama Traore and Ferran Torres all signed in the recent January window, for fees well short of the three aforementioned flops.

And last, shifting the bloated contracts of Griezmann and Coutinho, with Dembele likely to leave this summer have freed up wages for the promising talents that the club need to keep hold of.

The likes of Pedri and Fati come to mind as stars that will need significant pay rises in the future if they are to stay at Camp Nou for long periods.

In all, Rangnick and Manchester United have an awful lot to learn from Barcelona as they bid, once again, to transform the club this summer.