Barcelona ready to sign three forwards following Xavi – Laporta summit

The next couple of transfer windows will be crucial for Barcelona as they look to take the team back to the gloried heights of the past.

Crippled by a lack of funds, Barça had to rely on free transfers and loan deals this past summer, but the strategy has not entirely paid off.

Sergio Aguero was forced into an early retirement under unfortunate circumstances, whereas Memphis Depay has faded after a strong start. Luuk de Jong and Yusuf Demir are expected to be on their way out in January, while Eric Garcia has also failed to perform consistently.

So, it goes without saying that Barcelona need to make quality additions across multiple areas of the pitch, over the winter and the summer windows, to build a team capable of competing with the best.

El Nacional is now reporting that manager Xavi Hernandez held a meeting with president Joan Laporta before Barcelona’s La Liga clash against Elche on Saturday to lay down the roadmap for the upcoming transfer windows and narrow in on the desired targets.

Three forwards, €225 million investment

And the report claims that Xavi remains particularly keen on adding to his attacking unit, with three names on the agenda for Barcelona – Ferran Torres (Manchester City), Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) and Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig).

The Catalan giants are planning to get the signing of Torres done and dusted in the upcoming January transfer window. Xavi is a huge admirer of the Spaniard and believes that he can fit in well with the team from the get-go due to his versatility, technical ability and familiarity with the tactics of Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique.

To that end, Barça are hoping to get the deal done for the former Valencia forward next month and would be willing to shell out €50 million for his services.

Dani Olmo was on the Blaugrana’s radar back in the summer, but they could not convince RB Leipzig to part ways with him back then. Since then, talks are believed to have continued to bring back the former La Masia prospect to the club, with the German giants also receptive to offers.

Olmo, for his part, is intent on returning to Barcelona, which increases the chances of a transfer going through. A fee of €50 million is being quoted for the Spaniard, although the club hope to get it further down in the summer transfer window.

Meanwhile, Erling Haaland is a target for the summer transfer window. The Norwegian international has been a priority for Laporta for a while now, with talks of a move only intensifying after his secret meeting with the striker’s agent, Mino Raiola, earlier this month.

Barcelona are aware that his signing will not come cheap. With transfer fees, wages and agent commission, the deal is expected to cost €125 million in total, as per the report, a sum that the club consider fair given the quality he would add.

The Untouchables

For Barcelona to undertake this scale of investment, generating funds from player sales is a must due to the financial situation. So, several players who do not belong in the manager’s plans are likely to be offloaded over the next two transfer windows.

However, as reported by madrid-barcelona.com (h/t El Nacional), Xavi has a list of ten players that he does not wish to be sold by the club. Ansu Fati, Pedri, Gavi, Nico Gonzalez, Ronald Araujo, Eric Garcia, Abde Ezzalzouli, Alejandro Balde and Marc-Andre ter Stegen are believed to be on the ‘untouchables’ list, along with Ousmane Dembele.

However, the latter’s case would be dependent on whether he signs a new contract or not. As for the rest of the players, they are considered transferable if suitable offers come along. The likes of Sergino Dest, Philippe Coutinho, Samuel Umtiti and summer signing Memphis Depay, in particular, are believed to be at the top of the exit list.

Plans are being laid out to build Barcelona back up and lead them out of the current troubled times. Only time will tell if these schemes come to fruition for Xavi and Laporta.