Xavi only missing one piece of the puzzle for his dream midfield

In his interview with SPORT, Xavi Hernández stated that the team needed reinforcements in midfield and up front. He considered that in these areas of the pitch, Barça may not be short of players, but that greater quality options were needed. The departure of Sergio Busquets was also a major loss in the playmaking area.

The Barça coach has never tired of repeating that without the former captain he needs a high quality pivot to replace him. He can't use another  midfielder there, or experiment. "Busquets' replacement has to be a 9 or a 10 out of 10", he insists every time he is asked. The list of players that Barça can sign is not too long. Xavi would like to sign Zubimendi, but neither can the club afford it, nor is he willing to leave Real Sociedad.

Betis' Guido Rodriguez is gaining ground because Amrabat is in more of a hurry to decide his future and Kimminch remains a summer dream with very little chance of becoming a reality. But the midfielder is the piece that Xavi is missing to have the midfield of his dreams.

With the arrival of Ilkay Gündogan, he already has the creative midfielder profile that the team needed to make a leap in quality and a step forward in its aspirations to grow in competitiveness, especially in the Champions League. The German is an undisputed player, captain of the current European champions and a key player for Manchester City in recent seasons, who fought until the last moment to keep him.

Xavi could already form a midfield with four players of a very high level, all of them internationals and first-choice players for their national teams. Gündogan, Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Gavi are stars.

The Canary Islander and the German should be the generators of play and the ones to feed Lewandowski, who was crying out for another player with enough talent and creativity to generate goal-scoring chances. Pedri's injury hurt the Polish striker, who was without his best partner on the pitch.

Gündogan has goals and in Barça's game, in principle, he will occupy the interior position, although due to his characteristics he can also play more as an organiser in a double pivot if necessary. Either with the signing who is due to arrive or with Frenkie de Jong playing alongside him. The Dutchman, although Xavi asked him to be more positional at the start of his tenure, now has more freedom to move.

Gavi is also key because of his great competitiveness and his work in pressing in the opposition half. He still needs to continue to improve tactically and having the German in the squad can be a great help.

Gündogan is a very complete midfielder who has played in different roles throughout his career. At Dortmund under Jürgen Klopp he tended to be more of an organiser thanks to his great technique and in recent years at City under Guardiola he has exploited his finishing quality with plenty of goals.