Xavi’s idea on the replacement
Xavi cannot say this season that he has no spare parts for Lewandowski . Up to three World Cup players, two of them undisputed starters, can occupy the seat of nine that is owned by the Pole, sanctioned for the next three league games. No one seems more popular than anyone, and no one is more nine than anyone, so the matter is open.
Ferran, Ansu and Memphis Depay are the three Barça players with options to play out of nine on New Year’s Eve against Espanyol. Ferran came to the break with the arrow up after playing a good game in Pamplona , where he won after Lewandowski was sent off. Against Almería he had already played a great game. Xavi’s decision to start using Dembele and Raphinha together benefits him to play as a false left winger. But Ferran can also be the benchmark. Guardiola used it there at City and Luis Enrique , in the National Team. The Valencian is a player with a great capacity to attack spaces and shoot unmarked. Pep came to compare him with Vardy . He has five goals in 18 games.
Surely, Ansu is the player with the most skill for the definition and in a game with Espanyol closed behind, his ability to move in the area may weigh on him to start. But how is Ansu? That is more difficult to know. He played little in the World Cup and despite the fact that the coaches insist that the player is fit and has no physical problems to play, he still hasn’t added many minutes. Something doesn’t add up in the equation because if a player of Ansu ‘s talent is physically fit, it’s hard to think that he doesn’t have a place. Luis de la Fuente , by the way, will be very attentive. Ansu has three goals in 20 games.
Memphis on top of the list?
Finally, Memphis, who curiously resolved the derby last year. Also with a penalty. His role these weeks can change due to the sanction of Lewandowski. But nobody obviously knows that he ends his contract in June and that his future is open. Memphis, in principle, will continue in Barcelona until June, when it will go free. Until then, and if there is no big news like this summer with Aubameyang , it will continue until the end of the season. It also remains to be known at what levels of motivation. Depay has felt like a dispensable player since Xavi arrived and its prospects until June are not very encouraging. That, without ruling out a last minute exit in the winter market. Xavi has already made it clear that he asked Mateu not to touch the squad too much, but the economic reality of the team is well known. Depay has one goal in three games.