How much will Xavi have to spend at Barcelona in January?
Martin Macdonald
- 12 Nov 2021 03:47 CST
- 3 min read
Barcelona are currently in turmoil both on and off the pitch but fans received some positive news this week after legendary former player Xavi was confirmed as the club's new head coach.
Following the tenure of Ronald Koeman which yielded just one trophy, the Dutchman was sacked after a string of poor performances in La Liga.
At the moment, Barcelona are ninth in the table and have won just four out of their opening 12 matches.
They are 11 points off top spot, and seven points adrift of the Champions League qualification positions.
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Off the pitch, their finances are a disaster due to a combination of the pandemic as well as their gross overspending on transfers and wages over the past decade.
Due to these finances, Lionel Messi was forced to leave as the club could no longer afford to pay his salary.
The squad is in desperate need of an overhaul, but unfortunately for new coach Xavi that won't be happening anytime soon and certainly not in January.
Prior to Koeman's dismissal, reports from Spain indicated that Barcelona would have around €20 million to spend in the upcoming transfer window.
A centre-forward emerged as the priority as the strange signing of Luuk de Jong has not worked out, while Sergio Aguero only played 165 minutes of football after joining from Manchester City before being injured yet again.
However, the decision to sack Koeman has cost the club between €10m and €12m and according to ESPN, this will be taken out of the transfer budget, leaving Xavi with just €10m to spend on his squad.
Who is Xavi targeting at Barcelona?
Even with their awful financial situation, Barcelona continue to be linked with an array of superstars, even Cristiano Ronaldo.
Xavi has identified RB Leipzig attacking midfielder Dani Olmo and Manchester City winger Ferran Torres as his two main transfer targets.
It is highly fanciful to suggest these deals could happen in January for a few reasons.
Even if you were to ignore the fact Barcelona have very little money, both RB Leipzig and Man City will have very little interest in selling two key players mid season, especially two who would cost significant fees.
According to our FootballTransfers algorithm, Olmo is valued at €44m, while Torres is valued at €58m.
FootballTransfers' transfer valuations are calculated in collaboration with SciSports, a world-leading football analytics agency that assesses the relative transfer valuations of over 60,000 professional footballers worldwide.
SciSports use multiple data points including current and potential ability, contract length, form, age, and other crucial factors.
