Laporta Reveals First Player Xavi Requested This Summer

Ilkay Gundogan was the first player Xavi urged Barcelona to sign this summer, president Joan Laporta has revealed.

The club president Laporta officially unveiled the former Manchester City captain as a player of Barcelona on Monday.

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At a press conference afterward, Laporta disclosed that the German international was the initial player that manager Xavi wanted the club to sign this summer.

Laporta described the signing of Gundogan as “the first player Xavi requested for this summer. It’s an honour that he choose our offer. The financial proposition we made was sound, but it wasn’t the greatest he had. He chose Barca above other offers because of its reputation and heritage.

Mateu Alemany, Barcelona’s director of football, stated, “We first sounded out the agreement when we signed Christensen [in 2022]. Negotiations have been challenging ever since January. It’s difficult to reach an agreement with the agents because other proposals were more financially advantageous than ours.”

Gundogan, Pep Guardiola’s first signing at Manchester City in 2016, left the team after seven seasons to join the Catalan giants. He steered Manchester City to a treble last year.

Barcelona has officially announce the signing of Giro as Oriol Romeu after securing Gundogan’s agreement.