Former Barcelona captain Xavi believes Marco Verratti and Paulo Dybala have the “DNA” to play for the Catalan club in the future.
Xavi left the Spanish giants in the summer of 2015 after a glittering career in his home country, but Barcelona were unable to replace the 36-year-old due to their FIFA-imposed transfer embargo.
While Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal came in – they were only able to play for the first time in January 2016 – many feel Xavi has not really been replaced as of yet.
Despite the wealth of quality in the form of Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets,
Sergi Roberto and Ivan Rakitic in the middle of the park, Xavi believes
Verratti is an ideal player for his former side.
The former Spain captain has also praised Dybala – the Argentina international has excelled at Juventus since joining last year – and believes he too could shine at the Camp Nou, but not his team-mate and highly sought- after star Paul Pogba.
“Personally, with the arrivals of Aleix [Vidal] and Arda [Turan], no [Barca don’t need reinforcements at the moment],” Xavi told Mundo Deportiv.
“Maybe something in attack to complement the trident, I don’t know … it’s up to Luis Enrique.
“I personally don’t see anyone better they could sign. I say that from my heart. This squad still has a long way to go. It has perfect balance in every department.
“There’s two players I really like, both of whom I think have Barca’s DNA. They are Marco Verratti and Paulo Dybala.
“They are amazing and, thanks to their quality and style of play, would easily integrate into the [Barca] machine. I see them as future stars at the club.
“[Pogba] is a great player. He’ll be a star for France as he is for Juve, but I see him with a different game to ours. Regardless, if we sign him, I’d accept him.”
For the time being, there are not many in the world that can make Barcelona a better team than what they currently are.
Luis Enrique’s side set a new club record this week by going 29 games unbeaten across all competitions, after drawing 1-1 with Valencia at the Mestalla.
They are also currently top of La Liga on 54 points and have a game in hand over rivals Real Madrid.
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