Lobotka’s New Nod to Xavi and Barça

Barcelona will play in the Champions League quarter-finals four seasons after their last appearance among Europe’s top 16 teams. Xavi Hernández has led the Blaugrana’s European resurgence by defeating Napoli in the round of 16, overcoming them in Montjuïc (3-1), following a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.

In the ranks of the Neapolitan team, the performance of Slovenian Stanislav Lobotka stood out, whom Barça’s coach did not hesitate to praise at the end of the tie. Xavi’s words sparked all kinds of speculation about a possible interest from the Blaugrana, considering that strengthening the defensive midfielder position is one of the priorities for Barcelona’s sporting management for the next season.

Barça covered Sergio Busquets’ departure this summer with the return of Oriol Romeu, but the Ulldecona-born player has not had his best season physically, which has affected his game, so he has not been able to establish himself. Xavi has managed the situation by adapting Andreas Christensen, who has balanced the team’s play, but the leap in quality requires finding a specialist in that position.

Lobotka is one of the names that has been mentioned since the Champions League round of 16 encounter. In his favor, he knows the Spanish league from his time at Celta Vigo, but Napoli is not willing to let him go for less than 50 million.

The Slovenian international expressed interest in joining the Blaugrana after his national team’s victory against Portugal (2-0), showing his admiration for the current Barça coach: “It’s a pleasure when your childhood idol, Xavi, praises you for how you play. It gives you energy to keep working.”

And although he avoided disrespecting Napoli, he left the door open for a departure: “Right now, I’m only thinking about Napoli and the important match we have on Saturday, but we’ll see what happens in the summer.”