Barcelona news: Xavi puts nine players on the transfer list with additions planned

Xavi Hernandez has made it clear that Barcelona need to strengthen their squad in the summer to challenge Real Madrid next season. Los Blancos won the La Liga title at a canter this season with the Catalan giants 12 points behind with three games remaining.

The Spanish coach wants to make additions but is aware that Barcelona are facing a financial crunch and will not be able to spend big on marquee signings. The Catalan outfit is expected to offload a number of players including regular first-team stars in order to raise funds and aid Xavi's desire to bring in new personnel.

According to Marca, Barcelona will sell at least nine players once the season concludes, and the list includes midfield star Frenkie de Jong and 2021 summer arrival Memphis Depay. The La Liga club are aware that they will have to sell players with value in order to raise considerable funds that will aid them in the transfer market.

Apart from the aforementioned duo, the likes of Neto, Clement Lenglet, Sergino Dest, Oscar Mingueza, Samuel Umtiti, Riqui Puig and Martin Braithwaite will also be made available for transfer. A number of the players have been on the transfer list since last summer, but have failed to attract appropriate suitors.

De Jong is likely to have a number of suitors with Premier League big guns Manchester City and Manchester United monitoring the situation. The Dutchman is valued at £58 million, while Depay who is attracting interest from Tottenham Hotspur could also turn a tidy profit having arrived on a free transfer last summer.

The likes of Philippe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann, Trincao and Miralem Pjanic are out on loan and are expected to be offloaded when they return to the Camp Nou in the summer. Meanwhile, Ousmane Dembele and Dani Alves could leave the club when their respective contracts expire on June 30.

If Barcelona manage to offload multiple first-team stars, Xavi will have a number of vacancies to fill before the start of next season. The Catalan giants have already agreed deals with soon-to-be free agents Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen, while being in advanced talks with Chelsea full backs Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso.