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Barcelona were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League after conceding a loss to Bayern Munich in midweek. Xavi Hernandez has his work cut out for him as he tries to restore lost glory to the club. This is the first time in 20 years that the Catalans have failed to make the knockout stages of the Champions League.
The club are looking to bring in reinforcements to the squad in the January transfer window. Without further ado, let's take a look at the top stories involving Barcelona from 10 December 2021.
Memphis Depay out with hamstring injury
Barcelona's horrible run of luck with their frontline is set to continue. In what is yet another big blow to the club, Memphis Depay will now be sidelined for a while after picking up a hamstring injury.
The club also confirmed that Jordi Alba, who was forced off during the match against Bayern Munich, will be unavailable for the next few weeks. The official FC Barcelona statement reads as follows:
“Jordi Alba is having trouble with his right hamstring and will be unavailable until he recovers. He was replaced by Oscar Mingueza in the 31st minutes of the 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.
“Meanwhile, the Dutch striker has injured the biceps femoris in his left hamstring and is out of action until he recovers. Memphis started the game and played all 90 minutes, but was clearly having fitness issues at the end.”
Liverpool set to activate Gavi's €50 million release clause
17-year-old Spanish midfielder Gavi is one of Barcelona's prized assets. The diminutive youngster has already earned comparisons to the likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta. He was immensely impressive for Spain in his debut against Italy in a UEFA Nations League semi-final.
Gavi ran the show for La Roja from midfield and was one of their standout performers as they beat the European champions. The 17-year-old has made 19 appearances for Barcelona this term.
Naturally, Gavi has garnered a lot of interest from a multitude of European clubs. According to El Nacional, Liverpool have set their sights on the teenager and are ready to activate his €50 million release clause next summer.
While Barcelona are keen to extend his contract and raise his release clause to an astronomical amount, Gavi is reportedly not too keen to stay. He is not happy with the current problems at Barcelona and would be open to a switch, as per reports.
Barcelona make Julian Alvarez a priority signing
Barcelona's attack has been ravaged by injuries. Xavi is reportedly keen on bringing reinforcements to his frontline. According to reports in Spain and Italy (via Forbes), the Barcelona manager has identified 21-year-old River Plate striker Julian Alvarez as a priority signing in January.
Alvarez is a technically proficient forward with excellent dribbling ability. He has been nicknamed 'Spiderman' as it appears as though 'he has more than two legs' when he is dribbling.
Alvarez was part of the Argentina squad that won Copa America 2021 but his involvement was limited to one substitute appearance. But the 21-year-old has been in great form for River Plate this season, scoring 17 goals and providing seven assists in 20 league appearaces so far.
River Plate have won the league title already and Alvarez has been a standout performer for them.
