Pep Guardiola received a warm welcome at Camp Nou, as he watched Barcelona end Real Madrid’s hopes of overtaking them in the La Liga title race. The Manchester City manager also witnessed Xavi become the first Blaugrana manager since himself in 2011 to win three El Clasicos in a year.
Now, with a few more trophies and the implementation of a more possession-dominant style of play instead of a conservative approach, Xavi can finally start commanding the same respect as his former manager.
In order to make Barcelona a more composed side with the ball akin to his own playing days, the legendary midfielder-turned-manager needs more technically secure players.
And what better way to do so than chasing stars who are known to be admired by Guardiola?
Barcelona close to agreeing a deal with former Manchester City target
In 2018, the Premier League outfit were interested in signing Iñigo Martínez, then at Real Sociedad. The left-footed centre-back was at the time attracting interest from several clubs because of his ability on the ball and positional awareness.
Things didn’t materialise, and City instead signed Aymeric Laporte. But the domino effect of the transfer was that Athletic Club moved for Martinez to replace Laporte.
Fast forward to now, the Spain international is set to leave Athletic on a free transfer. And according to Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona are really close to reaching a full verbal agreement with the 31-year-old. However, the deal depends on how the Catalan outfit navigates the Financial Fair Play situation.
Martinez may not be the most high-profile of the summer arrivals, but a quality ball-playing centre-back like him will raise the technical floor of Barcelona, who despite their success in domestic competitions, have fallen short in Europe due to their failure to control the tempo of the game. Their backline struggled against Manchester United’s high pressing in the Europa League play-off round and threw away a goal lead away from home.