Xavi Hernandez’s first managing days in Barcelona saw him maintaining order and patching the holes – also a lot of work is being done on scouting potential signings. After years of spending money relentlessly – the idea now is to hire new players with minimal expenses.After the return of Barca legend Dani Alves, Xavi set his eyes on another experienced defensive flank player. Not for the upcoming winter transfer window but for the one happening next summer. It is none else than Cesar Azpilicueta, whose contract with Chelsea expires in June.Sat, 15.30: (4.90) LEICESTER (3.60) CHELSEA (1.83)At the moment, there is no information that a new contract is being negotiated at Stamford Bridge, although the desire to continue the cooperation exists among the coaching staff and the club executives. However, if nothing is signed by January 1st, the Spanish national team player could negotiate with other clubs without needing Chelsea’s permission. That is exactly why Xavi is waiting for the first days of January in order to talk to his countryman.The captain of the reigning European champions is spending the last of the three years of the contract he signed in 2018, and with his experience he did a lot to make the team under the command of Thomas Tuchel look much better, especially in defense, which was a big problem during Frank Lampard’s term. Until recently, he was among the most consistent first team players, but he spent the last three games in the Premier League on the substitutes bench – something his successor and Chelsea academy product Reece James took advantage of and confirmed that he is in amazing form by scoring some really important goals.Paths have crossed many times for the current and the former manager of the Spurs – now they crossed againAzpilicueta will celebrate a full decade of playing for Chelsea next summer, and considering that only 10 million USD were paid for his transfer from Marseille, he is one of the players who paid off massively… He played over 440 games wearing the Blues shirt, and won practically everything he could – two Premier Leagues, one Champions League, Europa League twice, and one FA Cup, League Cup and European Super Cup… He has been the captain of the Stamford Bridge squad since the summer of 2019, when Gary Cahill left the club.Although there is no firm confirmation, the media in Spain are speculating that Azpilicueta is ready to turn a new page in his career, leave London after ten years and return to his homeland. Barcelona will try and take advantage…
