Xavi asks for reinforcements at Barcelona after Dembele injury, receives negative response | OneFootball

Barcelona weakened their attacking unit this January by allowing Memphis Depay to leave the club for Atletico Madrid. While there was a plan to sign a replacement, their Financial Fair Play problems meant that they were told by La Liga that they cannot sign any players.

Following the injury to Ousmane Dembele against Girona on Saturday, things have gotten even more difficult for Xavi and Barça.

With the 25-year-old expected to be out for 3-4 weeks, the club will have to make do with just four forwards in Robert Lewandowski, an out-of-form Ansu Fati, an inconsistent Raphinha and Ferran Torres, who has been struggling to make an impact.

As a result, Xavi asked Barcelona director Mateu Alemany for a reinforcement following the injury to Dembele, reports Javi Miguel of AS.

However, the response he received from the club’s transfer chief was not positive, with Alemany understood to have told the manager that there is not enough Fair Play margin for the club to make any signings.

There are just a few days left in the transfer window, and Jordi Cruyff, speaking after yesterday’s game, also said that the fans should not expect much activity.

“The fans can be calm. There won’t be a lot of movement in the transfer market,” he had said after the match (h/t SPORT). However, he did leave the door open to the possibility of an operation, saying: “You never know.”

But, as things stand, it does seem extremely unlikely that Barcelona will be able to sign any player unless it is on a loan deal or a free transfer, with whoever comes in accepting very low wages.

Hector Bellerin has been linked with an exit of late, and whether his potential exit opens up more possibilities to recruit someone will be interesting to see. But as things stand, Xavi has been told by Alemany that there is little to no scope for a reinforcement to arrive.