For over a decade, Xavi Hernandez has sat in the centre of the Barcelona midfield as the centrepiece of the Catalonian party.
Over the course of his senior career at Barcelona he has made over 720 appearances, scoring 83 goals and assisting 93. On top of that he has formed a part of the fantastic trio that is himself, Iniesta and Messi. He is not particularly fast, tall or physically intimidating, but he doesn’t need to be. He sits in the middle of the park and pulls all the strings. His eye for a pass is exceptional.
He is a top class player and if Barcelona had been offering him to clubs two or three years ago I would have been urging Arsène to open up his chequebook.
But, therein lies the main problem. At thirty-four years old he isn’t getting any younger and that is the reason Barcelona weren’t selling him three seasons ago. He was still young enough to do the job they required him to do. Arsenal are now ready to move forward and start competing at the highest level again. We shouldn’t be buying out of date players from other clubs if we really are looking to move forward.
The first thing to consider is that given Xavi’s age, a switch to the Premier League may not work out brilliantly, despite his class. We are all aware that it sometimes takes players a certain amount of time to adjust to the pace and physicality of the Premiership. Xavi could be pushing thirty-five by the time he settles in.
Another important point is that he isn’t the type of midfielder we need to strengthen our squad.
I know it sounds stupid to turn your nose up at a world class player, and many people might feel that despite his age and expendability it couldn’t do any harm to have an extra player of his quality available.
But, financially it doesn’t make sense. Xavi still has two seasons to run on his contract at Barcelona and although the transfer fee would be unlikely to reach astronomical heights, it would still be significant.
The more decisive financial aspect that needs to be considered however is his wages. He would be looking for a two or three-year deal on wages of around £150,000 a week. It wouldn’t be good business. We already have a player with great vision and an ability to spot a pass in Jack Wilshere and we have Aaron Ramsey who can do that with the added bonus of scoring goals.
We are in desperate need of a strong, forceful defensive midfielder and the money that would be set aside for Xavi would be better spent on a player we are in need of.
If Arsène, for whatever reason, really feels that we need a player like Xavi to add to our midfield, there is another option from Barcelona that may be more sensible. We have a buy-back clause on Fabregas and if the rumours about his unhappiness at Camp Nou are true, he would be a better option than Xavi.
He would cost more than Xavi with the buy-back fee believed to be around £29,000,000. But, he is seven years younger than Xavi and has eight years of experience with Arsenal.
Xavi is a fine player, but he is not one that we should sign.
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Photo via Alfonso Jimenez