MX23RW : Saturday, July 6 12:18:28| >> :60:466:466:

Andoni Zubizarreta: Barcelona squad 'needs more than tweaking'

Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta admits that the impending departures of Carles Puyol and Victor Valdes will force them to spend more money in the summer.

Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta has admitted that they will be forced into the transfer market this summer to replace Victor Valdes and Carles Puyol.

The two long-serving academy graduates will the Camp Nou when their respective contracts expire at the end of the season, with Valdes being strongly linked with a move to England.

Barca have already secured a deal to recruit highly-rated teenager Alen Halilovic from Dinamo Zagreb, but Zubizarreta has conceded that the impending departures mean that more signings will be needed.

"We knew that Victor Valdes wasn't going to stay, now we know that Carles Puyol isn't going to either," he told Catalunya Radio.

"They have been two obvious references in our squad. Just taking these two players into account, I would say that it's already now more than the tweaks we had envisaged."

Zubizarreta made over 300 appearances for Barca and 126 for Spain during his career as a goalkeeper.

ID:143304: cacheID:143304:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2152:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Alen Halilovic of Croatia in action during the international friendly match between Portugal and Croatia on June 10, 2013
Read Next:
Barcelona close in on Alen Halilovic
>
rhs 2.0
Euro 2024 fixtures header
Saturday, July 6
 
5pm
 
8pm
Tuesday, July 9
 
8pm
Semi-Finals
Spain
vs.
France
Wednesday, July 10
Sunday, July 14
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany32107
Q Switzerland Switzerland31205
3 Hungary Hungary31023
4 Scotland flag Scotland30121

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain33009
Q Italy Italy31114
3 Croatia Croatia30212
4 Albania national flag Albania30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England31205
Q Denmark Denmark30303
Q Slovenia Slovenia30303
4 Serbia Serbia30212

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria32016
Q France France31205
Q Netherlands Netherlands31114
4 Poland Poland30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania31114
Q Belgium Belgium31114
Q Slovakia Slovakia31114
4 Ukraine Ukraine31114

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Turkey Turkey32016
Q Georgia Georgia31114
4 Czech Republic Czech Republic30121


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!