Xavi’s three-layer screening process before signing a player at Barcelona revealed – report | OneFootball

Barcelona’s scouting and signing policy has always been a fascinating topic. After all, the Catalan giants are one of the few clubs in world football that must look for players of specific profiles to fit into the team’s style.

SPORT brought forth insider’s details about Barcelona’s method of signing players under Xavi Hernandez. The Spanish tactician’s procedure, according to the media outlet, involved three levels of filtering.

The first level: Eye test

Once a player is scouted and identified as a potential target, Xavi Hernandez and his team take on the responsibility of diving deeper into his profile.

The objective of the first screening is to analyse the player’s technical, physical, and tactical prowess and evaluate how he will fit into the team’s style.

This is achieved through a combination of watching live matches, video recordings, and compiling data by the management itself.

The second level: economic viability

Once the player passes the eye test, his file is passed to the technical secretariat where the feasibility of his signing is evaluated.

This step includes analysing the economic investment required, the salary that can be offered and the terms of the proposal that can be presented to his entourage. Criteria like the player’s age, cost, and salary are evaluated here.

Another critical process that runs in parallel to the second step is to understand the target’s life off the field.

Xavi collects information on the player’s private life, attitude to the sport, professionalism, behaviour in the dressing room, tactical understanding, and acceptance of a subordinate role.

Xavi has a detailed process in place for signing players. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

As part of the aforementioned step, Xavi also discusses the profiles with his dressing room to get their two cents on the player.

For example, the potential signings of Arthur Melo and Benjamin Pavard took a backstep when Sergio Busquets and Ousmane Dembele gave negative reports on them.

The third level: direct contact

In the third and final level of screening, Xavi personally calls and talks to the target to convince him of the project.

The meeting happens on call or in person, as he did in the cases of Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, Pablo Torre, and many others.

If the manager receives negative feedback at any point in the three-level screening, the operation is aborted on placed on hold until further re-activation.

Needless to say, the system is highly organised and ensures that only the perfect fit joins the club.