Man City forward informs Guardiola that he wants to join Barcelona

Xavi’s return to the Camp Nou is as romantic as one can make it out to be, but it could have probably been in under better circumstances. Barcelona has a number of players injured, and with no money in the bank, Joan Laporta cannot afford to provide the new coach with quick replacements either.

One particular area of concern for the Blaugrana is the wing. With Ousmane Dembele and Ansu Fati suffering reoccurring injuries, and Yusuf Demir yet to find his footing, Xavi is not particularly spoilt for choice. That might soon change, though.

Barcelona have been linked with Raheem Sterling for a few months now, and if reports from 90min (h/t City Xtra) are to be believed, the Englishman has expressed his desire to leave Manchester City to Pep Guardiola.

This comes on the back of a slashed amount of playing time this season, and the belief that he is not in Pep’s long-term plans.

As such, Sterling is looking for a loan, probably in an attempt to prove his worth to Guardiola. And Barcelona could be one winning from this deal.

In the past, there have been rumours floating that suggest that City, while not particularly happy about offloading Sterling, prioritise a permanent deal instead of a loan. Utterly deprived of money, Barça cannot make that happen.

They can, however, pursue a loan deal with the obligation of purchasing the winger. With around €60 million in their budget pre-selling, the club could put aside at least €45 of them for Sterling — most likely his starting price.

That said, though, Barcelona have also been linked to several strikers this month, with rumours about Karim Adeyemi catching fire. The German striker will likely cost €30-35 million. Without offloading players in the summer, it would be next to impossible to go for both.