Xavi will assess exit-linked Barcelona winger’s performance during pre-season

With the summer transfer window on the horizon, Barcelona have several critical decisions to make with regard to their players.

President Joan Laporta has hinted that the club will not hesitate to offload important players if a good offer arrives that can help Barça improve their economic conditions.

Barcelona have several players whose future at the club is far from certain. That includes stars returning from loan such as Miralem Pjanic and Francisco Trincao.

While Pjanic most certainly does not have a space in the manager’s plans and is likely to be offloaded on loan or permanently, things could be different with Trincao.

As per Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez is considering the prospect of keeping the Portuguese winger at the club for the pre-season and assessing his performances before deciding on his future.

Trincao signed for Barça in 2020 but endured a difficult debut campaign, with Ronald Koeman opting to use him from the bench more often than not. The 22-year-old spent the last season out on loan at Premier League club Wolves and made a decent impression.

However, the English side have decided against signing him permanently in a €30 million deal, leaving the former SC Braga winger’s future in limbo.

Set to return to Barcelona at the end of June, Trincao is already attracting interest from clubs across Europe, with Sporting CP, Valencia and Benfica.

However, Xavi would like to keep him around for the pre-season and get a closer look at the player to see if he can fit into the Catalans’ attack for next term.

At the same time, though, if any of the interested parties were to come up with a sizeable offer for the 22-year-old, the sporting committee will go ahead and sanction the sale of the winger.

As per the report, Barcelona are looking at a fee of €18 million for Trincao. In addition to that, the Catalan giants would want to insert a 30% sell-on clause as well.

The pre-season is scheduled to start on July 4, when Trincao will link up with the team. Whether he finds a place in Xavi’s plans or is moved on in the summer remains to be seen.