On Lewandowski: “Age is not a problem”
MADRID, 14 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The FC Barcelona coach, Xavi Hernández, has assured that there are “untouchable, transferable and non-transferable” players, and that they will take this into account in the next transfer market, where they will depend on the “economy” of the club, in addition to insisting on the importance of this Sunday’s game against Getafe, where he hopes that “the Barça of February and March” will return.
“There are untouchables, there are transferable, there are non-transferable. The planning is quite clear to me, and from here we must know the capacity we have to maneuver. We just need to know where we are economically,” he declared at a press conference. “The circumstances of the club are what rule, we depend on the economic situation. We will have to start doing it now,” he added.
In this sense, he spoke of the specific case of Frenkie de Jong. “For me he is a very important player, he has been a starter practically always. He is fundamental, but there is also the economic situation of the club, on which we all depend. He can mark an era in the club and I like him a lot,” he asserted.
He also insisted that Barça “need to have two high-level players in each position.” “Seeing what we have now in the squad, there are positions that we don’t have doubled, there is no competition and when one of these players is injured we have a problem and we have to make inventions,” he explained.
Asked about the possibility of the inclusion of Pole Robert Lewandowski, Xavi refused to speak specifically about his case, although he explained that his age (33) is not a problem. “I have signed Dani Alves at 38 years old. It’s not age, it’s the performance he can give us. The footballer takes great care of himself, he’s more professional. Age is not a priority, only if they improve what we have”, pointed.
Regarding this Sunday’s duel, he stressed that the azulón team is “doing a great campaign” with Quique Sánchez Flores. “Since his arrival they have been very competitive, he has given them a lot of character and aggressiveness, in the good sense of the word. It is a team that plays very direct, with a very marked pattern of 5-3-2, and it is a very complicated for us. They need a point to save the category and it will be difficult. We will have to play better than against Celta; we are close to finishing second, we have one point left. We are going to go out and win”, he expressed.
“We have only fulfilled a minimum objective, which is to enter the ‘Champions’. There is another one left, which is to be second, and there are two games left to finish with good feelings. When the objective has been met, we would like to start planning and deciding things” , continued on possible signings.
In this sense, he acknowledged that he asked his players “one last effort” in these last two games. “The sensations are not the best, we are solving the games without playing well at all. We have to try to play better. We have to return to Barça in February and March,” he insisted.
Despite everything, the Catalan coach is “very optimistic” about what may happen next season. “Next year we will have to compete, this year we have tried. In February and March it seemed that we were going to fight for a title and it has not come to us. We have to be self-critical and self-demanding. From next year we are going to demand much more,” he ventured.
Lastly, he explained that defender Ronald Araujo is “fine” after his incident against Celta and that he has asked to play. “He wants to play, it’s his wish, it excites us all. At no time did he lose consciousness in the match against Celta. It depends on his feelings. He’s very good and wants to play, he’s committed, he insisted on being there”, manifested.
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