Xavi asks Barcelona to put a pin in potential transfers, wants to first assess current squad - Reports

Barcelona head coach Xavi is in no rush to sign new players for the Catalan giants. The Barca legend returned to the Nou Camp this week amidst a major crisis at the club.

He has already put his foot down on several matters, and the latest decision from the former midfielder is to put a stop to all potential transfers at the moment.

It is being reported that Xavi first wants to assess for himself the true potential of every single first-team player. He also wants to see several youngsters from the youth ranks before forming his final squad at Barcelona.

Under-19 players like Diego Almeida, Arnau Sola, Aleix Garrido, Txus Alba, Marc Casadó, Juan David Fuentes and Estanis Pedrola recently trained with the first team. Xavi assessed them himself.

The Barcelona head coach will no doubt want to make new signings, but his approach seems to be extremely systematic. With the club placed in a financial crunch, every single outlay will matter more than usual.

Xavi wants Barcelona to play "total football"

Xavi left Barcelona as a club legend. He made 767 appearances for the Catalan outfit, scoring 85 goals and providing 185 assists. He won a plethora of trophies with the club and captained them to their last Champions League win in 2014-15.

After his retirement, Xavi took over as the manager of Qatari side Al-Sadd. In his two-year spell at the Middle Eastern club, the Spaniard oversaw 91 games, winning 62 of them. More importantly, he implanted an attractive brand of football at Al-Sadd.

Xavi's team played similar football to that played by Johan Cryuff or Pep Guardiola's Barcelona teams. It was built on possession and passing.

In his first interview as Barcelona boss, Xavi made it clear he would continue to work down that line to make his team play "total football". It refers to the game philosophy where players seemingly worked more than their defined roles.

Xavi seems keen to imbibe that style of play for his Barcelona team as well. As put by the man himself:

"My first defender is my striker, and my first attacker is my goalkeeper."

The Barcelona head coach seems to have made the right steps in his first few days at the club. However, the underlying challenge is humungous and it will take a herculean effort to restore Barcelona at the summit of European football.