Xavi likes Barcelona loanee a lot, would welcome his return – report

Barcelona have several players away on loan this season, but not everyone is guaranteed a future at the club once they come back at the end of the campaign.

The likes of Samuel Umtiti, Clement Lenglet, and Alex Collado could all be sold permanently. But two prospects who have chances to carve out a spot in Xavi Hernandez’s plans are Ez Abde and Nico Gonzalez.

The former is excelling away at CA Osasuna and is attracting plenty of interest from clubs in England and Spain. A decision on his future will be taken after pre-season given that the Catalans will need to make some player sales.

As for Nico Gonzalez, SPORT reports that Xavi really likes Nico Gonzalez and would welcome his return from his loan stint at Valencia.

The manager wanted to keep the young midfielder at Barcelona, but the player requested to leave last summer so that he can play regularly, which was not going to be possible for him at Spotify Camp Nou.

Nico’s time with Los Che has been a hit and a miss thus far. While he has shown signs of promise, a recent toe injury sidelined him for a lengthy period.

The La Masia graduate has returned to full fitness recently and Barcelona hope that he can get a regular run in the side under Valencia’s new manager.

The Catalans are watching him closely at the Mestalla as they look to see whether Nico is ready to make the leap to becoming a prominent member of the team next season.

However, what the midfielder himself wants will have a say on his future. Given that the starting positions in the middle of the park at Barcelona are pretty much locked in, Nico could again be left deprived of minutes which might compel him to look elsewhere.

For now, the plan is for him to do the pre-season with the Barcelona first team following which both parties will have a discussion and decide the next course of action.