Xavi tells six Barcelona players they are not part of his Barca plans

Xavi Hernandez at presentation of Santander Bank in Barcelona, Catalonia
Xavi Hernandez at presentation of Santander Bank in Barcelona, Catalonia - IMAGO / Agencia EFE

Barcelona manager Xavi has told six of his players that they are not in his plans at the Nou Camp.

The Barca boss is looking to build a winning team this summer and has identified a series of players he wants to work with and a group he wants to let go. 

Riqui Puig, Neto, Oscar Mingueza, Clement Lenglet, Samuel Umtiti and Moussa Wague are players who have all been informed to find a new club by the Barca legend who wants his team ready before the season kicks off.

According to sport.es via Sportsmail, the Spaniard is keen to start from scratch at Barca with pre-season set to begin today, but many questions remain over several players’ futures.

The six players are said to have been given an extra week from the start of pre-season to organise their futures, and they must find new clubs if they want regular minutes this season.

Among the players on the list, only Lenglet is close to finding a new club. The French defender has been linked with Tottenham, but other players may have difficulty finding a way out.

Umtiti will probably depart on loan to another club in Spain while Wague is just returning from a serious injury that has kept him out for a year, meaning fewer clubs are likely to be willing to take a risk on the full-back.

Meanwhile, Oscar Mingueza and Puig both graduated from Barcelona’s academy but it has been made clear that Xavi wants neither player around.

Amidst the outgoings, Xavi reportedly still wants to sign a minimum of five new players ahead of the 2022/23 La Liga season.

Robert Lewandowski, Bernardo Silva, Raphinha, Marcos Alonso and César Azpilicueta have all been linked to the Catalan side. But so far only Franck Kessie and Andreas Chiristensen whose with unveiling is scheduled for this week have been added to the club.