From one day to the next, mostly coming from the Spanish press Sergiño Dest, Samuel Umtiti, Coutinho, and Luuk de Jong have been made expendable by Xavi and Barcelona. The trouble is none of these rumors ever seem to materialize and each player is still at the club.
The winter transfer market opens at the start of the new year and according to multiple reports all four of these players are the subject of loans and transfers. Now two reports from Spain have surfaced indicating the opposite of what has been reported for weeks now.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Sergiño Dest flat out does not want to leave Barcelona at this time, and Sport has reported that Samuel Umtiti is in the same boat. Xavi, who needs to retune his squad has very little wiggle room in the transfer window, unless the club adds by subtracting, and things just don’t seem to be any calmer at Barcelona.
Sergiño Dest and Samuel Umtiti want to stay at Barcelona amid transfer rumors
Xavi (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
In the case of Sergiño Dest, the American has played 12 games in LaLiga with 3 assists and has a contract until 2025 at the club. Xavi reportedly was not too fond of Dest’s tactical approach to the game and Dest was on the bench against Osasuna. In the last game Dest played for Xavi he was inexplicably placed as a winger/ forward.
Samuel Umtiti on the other hand has played only 1 game this season, against Osasuna, and is on contract until next season. Umtiti will have a conversation with club President Joan Laporta about his future at the club, although the French international would like to see his contract out.
Dest and Umtiti are just two new names in a list of players that could find their way out of Barcelona soon, the club is keen to loan or transfer players they deem expendable. The issue gets more complex when the question of who comes in to replace them is raised. Xavi has yet to find a team that plays his style properly and reports coming out of Spain talk about aging talents coming in to replace players at the peak of their careers. Xavi was supposed to bring calm to Barcelona, the club has played progressively worse under the new manager.
