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Barcelona manager Xavi has confirmed that Miralem Pjanic is set to leave the club, revealing that a lack of minutes compelled the midfielder to leave Camp Nou.
Pjanic joined Barcelona from Juventus for a €60 million fee in 2020, with Arthur joining the Bianconeri in a separate €76 million deal at the same time. Despite being an adept central midfielder, the Bosnian failed to impress his bosses at Barca and was loaned out to Besiktas the following season. He returned to the club earlier this summer, but Xavi has admitted that he is once again on his way out.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference ahead of the Blaugrana’s Champions League group stage clash against Viktoria Plzen, Xavi said (via journalist Reshad Rahman):
“Pjanic has decided to leave for more opportunities & minutes, he has been a great professional, everyone chooses their own path.”
The midfielder, who is heading for an imminent exit, has only featured in 30 games for Barcelona, failing to record even a single goal or assist.
Xavi declares that Barcelona will fight to win the Champions League this season
In a pre-match press conference (via Mundo Deportivo) ahead of Wednesday’s (September 7) Group C opener, Xavi was asked about Barca’s Champions League aspirations. The former two-time treble-winning midfielder admitted that his side were indeed dreaming of winning the tournament but would remain humble.
He said:
“We are going to compete and dream of winning the Champions League. I cannot conceive of playing without winning, but we have to be very humble. The illusion is very good, but you have to think that each game is going to be a war. We are going to compete, but dream too.”
Barca crashed out of the group stage last season and Xavi is relishing his team’s return to the biggest cup competition in Europe. Sharing his excitement, he said:
“A lot of enthusiasm, it cost us last year to be in this competition and we have to secure the first three points tomorrow. We are very excited about this competition.”
Alongside Viktoria Plzen, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich are in Barcelona’s Group C. The Catalonian outfit’s group is arguably the toughest in the competition this season.
