It’s clear that things have to change at Barcelona this summer.
The 2023/24 campaign has turned into a total disaster for the Catalans, and only an unexpected turnaround in the latter stages of the season will see them salvage something.
Currently 10 points behind La Liga leaders, Real Madrid, Xavi Hernandez’s side are shipping so many goals that it will be almost impossible to claw back the deficit.
Even if Barca were to win the next Clasico, they would still need Los Blancos to lose two more games as a minimum, assuming the Blaugranes won all of their games in the meantime.
In the Champions League, they face a Napoli side who are likely to be too strong for them in the Round of 16.
If Xavi is able to guide them into the last eight, that would be seen as a brilliant result, but no one is really looking at Barcelona as the team that will be lifting the trophy at Wembley at the end of the season.
Sporting director, Deco, gave a wide-ranging interview to a Portuguese outlet recently, and Sport ran with one or two of his comments.
The former Barcelona and Chelsea star appeared to indicate that the current crop of players weren’t physical enough, and that would explain why the club are going after Everton’s 22-year-old powerhouse midfielder, Amadou Onana.
The Toffees are in the bottom three, and another points deduction for financial irregularities will give Barca the boost they need to be able to secure their priority target.