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Xavi Has No Plans For La Masia Graduate Lionel Messi Loved, It's A Sad End To His Barcelona Career

Home> Football

Published 14:58 24 Jan 2022 GMT

Xavi Has No Plans For La Masia Graduate Lionel Messi Loved, It's A Sad End To His Barcelona Career

Xavi has made a decision.

Daniel Marland

Daniel Marland

Barcelona are willing to let Riqui Puig leave the club in a bid to lower their wage bill and it'll be a sad end to his career with the club.

The Catalan giants are still in financial trouble despite offloading Philippe Coutinho and lowering Samuel Umtiti's wages in recent weeks.

SPORT have reported Xavi is ready to make sacrifices and reduce Barcelona's wage bill by letting Puig leave in January.

Puig made his senior debut in 2018 and after one training session with the first team, Lionel Messi became a big fan.

Image
Alamy

The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner was said to be 'astonished' after seeing Puig in action and even compared him to Andres Iniesta.

Fast forward four years however and it hasn't panned out how everyone was hoping.

Puig failed to impress former manager Ronald Koeman, with many fans arguing he deserved more opportunities.

He was given the number six shirt this campaign and still didn't convince under Koeman before he was sacked in October.

Xavi's arrival presented a new opportunity for Puig, but he's fallen behind fellow La Masia graduates Nico Gonzalez and Gavi in the pecking order.

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Alamy

Barcelona B player Alvaro Sanz even came on ahead of Puig in a draw with Granada.

Puig is likely to go out on loan rather than leave permanently as he believes he's good enough to break into the starting XI.

Getafe have been linked with a move as have Premier League outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Barcelona have added Ferran Torres and Dani Alves to their squad in January as they look to get into the top four.

The Blaugrana are just one point behind Atletico Madrid in fourth after beating Alaves 1-0 on Sunday.

Frenkie de Jong scored a dramatic late winner and post-match, expressed his disappointment at the season so far.

Image
Alamy

Barcelona are 15 points off Real Madrid at the top and lost 3-2 to their bitter rivals in the Spanish Super Cup two weeks ago.

The performance was praised given the gap in quality between both teams, but de Jong thinks it shouldn't be that way.

"It makes me sad that we say we are proud when we lost against Real Madrid," the Dutch international told Movistar after his winning goal.

"We are Barca, when you lose you always have to be disappointed."

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Riqui Puig

Daniel Marland
Daniel Marland

Daniel is a social editor for SPORTbible after moving from the writing team. Nearly scored past Stormzy at Old Trafford once.

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@DanMarland_

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