Held in check by Rayo Vallecano during the first day, FC Barcelona wants to quickly forget this hitch and take the three points on the lawn of Real Sociedad. Xavi was present the day before the meeting at a press conference. The opportunity for him to discuss in particular the situations of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Memphis Depay and Jules Koundé. Words reported by Sport.
About Aubameyang
“The market ends on August 31 and we don’t know what will happen. We will see what will happen. At the moment he is our player and I am counting on him. For me he is an important footballer , but we. I’ll see what happens.”
About Depay
“At the moment, no one has left. Tomorrow we can use Memphis Depay and Aubameyang. If an offer arrives for one of them, we will assess what we will do. The priority today is to Hire Jules [Koundé]. From there, we will see if we move or not.
About Kounde
“We are waiting. We have time. Tomorrow we will give the list, at the moment everything is on ‘stand-by’. There is nothing new.”
On Real Sociedad
“They are a team that do a lot of good things, with a lot of talent in midfield and fast players in attack. The central defenders are strong, tough, it’s a complicated team to play, last year that cost us points. We will try to play a good game and take three vital points for us”.
On Casemiro’s move to Manchester United
“Casemiro is a footballer who marked a milestone in Madrid. They signed players to replace him, but it’s a big loss for them. They’ve won a lot in the last decade, they’ve lost an important piece. I can’t get involved in the rival’s decisions.”
About Ferran Torres
“He has trained very well this week. He is very good, very involved. All the players have trained well, especially him. It must be essential for us. I see him moving more from the group to the inside. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to get any minutes yet, but it’s going to be important for sure.”
On the game against Rayo
“There is nothing easy. We are in the top flight of football and we have to carry the flag of humility, work and sacrifice. That does not change overnight. Against Rayo, we deserved to win, we had a good match, but we lacked efficiency. We have one point out of three and that’s not a good background.”
On the rest of the transfer window
“It’s clear that we have to strengthen the team. The club knows it and we are working on it. We have time. It’s not a comfortable situation for the players we don’t have. The market should be closed before the start of the official competition. That’s what I think, it’s badly organized. In the end, nobody works quietly. You prepare a match with a player and he ends up leaving. It’s not the ideal scenario, that’s for sure.”
On what he intends to do with Koundé
“I spoke with him and gave him my idea of the game. He is a very high-class central defender. He has experience, leadership, he wins a lot of duels… We signed a extraordinary footballer. At Barca, every game is a test. He can be a great player for us. He is versatile, but I see him more as a central defender.”
On the arrival of a right side
“It’s the market. We were very clear with the schedule. We wanted to sign Azpilicueta but it couldn’t happen. We have players with guarantees that can cover this position. Araujo was good the other day , Sergi Roberto, Koundé…”.
On Pablo Torre
“We are evaluating him. The problem is that we, from now, in ten days, we will be training very little. We will play and recover, we will play and recover… We will talk to him and assess if the best option is that “He is on loan. For the moment, the idea is that he is in the dynamics of the first team and that he can have minutes”.
