5 players who could thrive under Xavi at Barcelona

#3 Ansu Fati

FC Barcelona v Real Madrid CF - La Liga Santander

Although Ansu Fati hasn’t played a game for Barcelona under Xavi yet, it’s quite obvious that Fati will share the bulk of the goal-scoring duties when he returns from injury. Xavi might ask him to both hold the width as well as move towards the box in order to occupy goal-scoring areas.

Fati has a lot of pace to burn on the wings and is also excellent at shooting from anywhere close to the box. Xavi might look to fashion chances from the left with a trio of Frenkie de Jong, Gavi/Pedri and Ansu Fati, while Jordi Alba maintains horizontal width.

The 19-year-old can also exchange quick passes with Depay on the edge of the box or tee off a pass to the player making the run on the opposite flank.

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#2 Sergio Busquets

RC Celta de Vigo v FC Barcelona - La Liga Santander

There has been a lot of criticism regarding Sergio Busquets at Barcelona. While Busquets continues to be the fulcrum of everything the Spanish national team does, his performances in the last three years for Barcelona have been erratic and inconsistent.

The game against Espanyol showed that Busquets is far from finished. It also proved that in the right system and under the guidance of a proper manager in Xavi, he can still be the midfield lynchpin. He had an 84 per cent passing accuracy and often set up wingers with a one-on-one against the keeper or with space to run into. Busquets also broke a lot of lines with his vision and made six recoveries and 11 long balls.

Perhaps the greatest attribute to his performance was the fact that Barcelona became significantly worse and failed to take charge of possession as soon as Xavi substituted him. This led to a mild collapse in structure and intent and Espanyol managed to sniff chances at goal towards the latter stages of the game.

When rested well and managed under a proper system with clearly defined roles, Busquets can offer plenty to Barcelona. Who better to get the best out of him than Xavi who shared so many years playing alongside him for Barcelona and Spain?

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#1 Ousmane Dembele

FC Barcelona v SD Huesca - La Liga Santander

It’s true we cannot predict the future and a lot of the assumptions here also hinge on Ousmane Dembele remaining fit for large stretches of the calendar. However, the early signs look extremely promising for a player of his profile.

Against Espanyol, Xavi started with 17-year-old Ilias Akhomach on the left flank. Like Dembele, Ilias is also left-footed, fast and likes to have a go at the defenders. Ilias constantly held the width on the right flank akin to what Pedro used to do under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona.

When on the ball, he tried to get past the opposition right back, and either combine with Depay and Nico Gonzalez to get inside the box or slot in a cross at the near post.

Xavi also deployed EZ Abde as well as Yusuf Demir on the right flank and all three players were given the license to make runs and take on their opposing full-backs. Ousmane Dembele will also be tasked with this role when he returns from injury and the Frenchman is a much better player than Ilias, Abde or Demir.

Xavi has already talked about trying to make Dembele one of the best players in the world and the winger will already be licking his lips at the opportunity. There were already clear signs of progress as Dembele started to make more off-the-ball runs under Ronald Koeman last season.

If he can remain fit and buy into Xavi’s vision, maybe we can finally see Dembele realizing the potential he has always had.