Xavi wants 21-year-old Barcelona youngster in pre-season no matter what – report

With the summer transfer window almost upon us, Barcelona have been hoping to get rid of some of the unwanted stars at the earliest, including those who were out on loan last season. The only loanee who appears to have a future at the club, as things stand, is Ez Abde.

The 21-year-old spent the last season away at CA Osasuna, where he enjoyed a positive campaign, scoring two goals and setting up four more across all competitions, helping Jagoba Arrasate’s men finish seventh in La Liga and as runners-up in Copa del Rey.

And, now, according to SPORT, Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez wants Ez Abde to do pre-season with the first team this summer no matter what.

This comes after the youngster’s impressive performance for the Moroccan U-23 national team against Guinea in the AFCON U-23 last night, when he scored a brace to fire his team to a 2-1 victory.

As per the report, Abde was hoping to finalise his future at the earliest possible. The winger was open to leaving Barcelona on loan or even on a permanent transfer this summer amid interest from Real Betis and clubs in the Premier League.

The winger is aware of the competition that exists at Barça, with the likes of Raphinha, Ousmane Dembele, Ansu Fati, and Ferran Torres battling for the spots on the wings.

While there are doubts over the future of Torres and Fati, reports suggest that Barcelona could end up keeping hold of the latter.

So, Abde is bound to have reservations about his game time should he return to Catalonia. But, Xavi is firm on his stance of wanting to see the 21-year-old from close quarters in the pre-season.

And if nothing changes, he could be on the flight to the US for the pre-season tour as well. There are some within the club who are not opposed to his sale if a good offer comes, but as things stand, Abde appears very likely to stay at the club this summer.