Xavi’s ‘dream’ summer transfer targets, including Messi and Man United superstar – report

As we enter the final phase of the 2022/23 season, FC Barcelona are already busy planning for the next season. The Catalans first have to resolve their Financial Fair Play issue by reducing their wage bill. Only after that can they dream of registering the renewed players and signing new ones.

Given the financial challenges ahead, it promises to be a hugely important window for Barça, one where several important sales could be made in order to achieve Fair Play, following which new faces could be brought in.

At this point, it has become abundantly clear that Barcelona need to strengthen the squad in several key positions.

Victor Malo has come up with an in-depth report about the positions Xavi and Barcelona want to strengthen and their targets for the same.

As per the report, Xavi has six positions that he wants to bolster, which are as follows (in order of priority): interior midfielder, pivot midfielder, left-winger, right-back, centre-forward and a left-footed centre-back.

The utmost priority, as per the report, is to sign a creative interior midfielder, which is understandable as Barcelona have suffered in the absence of Pedri.

For this position, Xavi dreams of signing Bernardo Silva or Lionel Messi. The former, however, seems unattainable due to the price tag involved, but work is already in progress to re-sign Messi in the summer.

Meanwhile, for the position of the pivot midfielder, Xavi continues to admire Martin Zubimendi and wants to sign the Real Sociedad ace. But, given his €60 million valuation, a move seems difficult and Barcelona will likely look at more feasible options.

As for the left-wing, Xavi dreams of signing in-form Manchester United superstar Marcus Rashford or even Rafael Leao of AC Milan, or someone of a similar profile, with Liverpool’s Luis Diaz previously mentioned as a target.

Both Leao and Rashford will enter the final year of their respective contracts with their clubs but are in talks to renew. So, it will be hard for Barça to pursue them either.

As for the right-back position, it has been well-established that Xavi wants to sign Juan Foyth from Villarreal, although his €54 million release clause is becoming a major hurdle.

Moving to the centre-forward slot, Vitor Roque is the dream option and the priority target for Barcelona, with talks already being held with his camp. If not him, the manager wants to reunite with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as a stop-gap solution.

Finally, in the left-sided centre-back position, Inigo Martinez is Xavi’s desire and if there are no Fair Play issues, the dream of signing the Spanish defender will become a reality, with an agreement already understood be in place and medicals passed.