Xavi talks Barcelona registrations, Ousmane Dembélé, Ansu Fati, and Lamine Yamal ahead of La Liga opener

Barcelona manager Xavi Hernández spoke to the media in his pre-match press conference ahead of the team’s official season debut away to Getafe on Sunday’s La Liga opener at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez in Madrid.

Here are the highlights from Xavi’s presser:

On Getafe

We have made good signings, the team played well in preseason. We expect to face a back five and a very complicated rival. We’ll have a very difficult visit and we must show our best version.

On player registrations

The club is working really well. We will try to register most of the players for tomorrow and we are optimistic. I am 90% sure all players will be registered for tomorrow. I already know most of the starters for tomorrow.

We were aware of this scenario. We’ve been calm and continued to work. It looks like we’ll register most players [for tomorrow].

On the transfer market

We are focused on tomorrow and on registering players. Nothing else has been decided yet.

On Neymar

The market is open until August 31. What happens tomorrow is Getafe, what else happens I can’t tell you. I won’t speak about the market.

On Ousmane Dembélé

I can only tell you about the time I’ve been here. We bet on him and it has been a big disappointment. We wanted him here badly and we have a great project.

On signing a right-back and a midfielder

We need both. We have stregthened well with Gündogan, we have Abde back, we have players who can play up front. But we need both, players who can thrive on the wing and in the middle. The club knows my priorities at right-back and between all of us we’ll decide what’s best.

On Ansu Fati

The market is open until August 31. I am happy with Ansu, I don’t know why people say I’m not. We’ll see if he can stay, anything can happen.

On Lamine Yamal

He practically doesn’t lose any balls, at the moment he makes great deicisions despite his young age. He is a very mature player for a 16-year-old.