Ousmane Dembele may yet sign a new contract with Barcelona after going from strength to strength under head coach Xavi, according to the club's vice-president Rafa Yuste.

France international Dembele was informed by Barca director Mateu Alemany to leave the club "immediately" in January after repeatedly turning down the offer of a new deal.

The 24-year-old was linked with a number of heavyweight clubs in the most recent transfer window, but a move away from Camp Nou did not materialise before the deadline.

Dembele has since been integrated back into the side by Xavi and is once again a key player for Barca now that his injury issues appear to be behind him.

It looked certain the former Borussia Dortmund forward would leave on a free transfer at the end of the campaign, but Yuste is not ruling anything out.

"As you know, negotiations did not bear fruit on their day, but Xavi tells us he is an exceptional player and he contributes a lot to the club," Yuste told Catalunya Radio.

"I think Xavi is doing fundamental work, including psychologically, because Dembele is better understanding the system. It's clear Xavi is a reference for the players.

"If he feels more and more comfortable, which I think will be the case, I do not rule out that we can meet with his agent again with the possibility of him continuing with us."

Dembele set up two goals for Barcelona in Sunday's stunning 4-0 win over fierce rivals Real Madrid as Barca made it 12 games without defeat in all competitions.

He is the second Barca player to provide two assists in the first half of a Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu this century, after Xavi in May 2009.
 
That double took Dembele to seven LaLiga assists in 2022 – at least two more than any other player – to go with his strike against Athletic Bilbao.

Those seven assists have come from an expected assists (xA) return of 3.6, which is the biggest positive differential of any player in the Spanish top flight this calendar year.

While tying down Dembele to fresh terms is now back on the agenda for Barca, the club are also continuing to work on new deals for Gavi and Ronald Araujo.

"We are working on this to the maximum, within our possibilities," Yuste said. "The manager is optimistic about the situation. They are all happy, which makes negotiations easier."

Barcelona are determined to keep Erling Haaland out of Real Madrid's clutches and view a deal for the Borussia Dortmund striker as "difficult, but not impossible".

Signs are pointing to Haaland leaving Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season, with Barcelona, Madrid and Manchester City all thought to be keen to sign the Norwegian striker.

There is the worrying potential scenario for Barcelona of Madrid signing Kylian Mbappe as well as Haaland, to reinforce attacking options that already include Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior.

It might be beyond Madrid's means to attract both in-demand frontman to the Santiago Bernabeu, given the financial implications of such deals, and Barcelona are having to work out what they themselves can afford to spend.

Financial struggles at Camp Nou have seen the club have to tread carefully in the transfer market, although they have enabled head coach Xavi to strengthen with the likes of Ferran Torres, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Adama Traore.

Speaking on Cadena Ser radio, Barcelona president Joan Laporta's advisor, Enric Masip, also said it was not beyond the realm of possibility that Lionel Messi could return to the club in a playing capacity. Record-breaking captain Messi was forced out last summer, when Barcelona realised they could not afford to register him.

Masip said of potential transfer movement: "The signing of Haaland is difficult, but not impossible. Many circumstances have to be met to be able to sign him. The club, despite the economic situation, are looking for formulas to continue making signings.

"I refer to the words that the president said: the club is in a position to be able to sign, but obviously, there have to be movements. For someone to come, someone has to leave.

"That is in the hands of the technical secretariat and then later there is the economic part. Speaking of Haaland, he is a player who has enormous quality and is a true '9'. At a football level, he is a player who would always be interesting in any big team."

Masip added, according to Mundo Deportivo: "I would prefer that Mbappe and Haaland don't get together in Madrid."

Since the day of Haaland's Dortmund debut on January 18, 2020, the Leeds-born forward has managed 80 goals in 82 club games across all competitions, putting him second among players from Europe's top five leagues (Premier League, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, LaLiga, Serie A).

Only Robert Lewandowski (118 goals in 99 games for Bayern Munich) has managed more, with Haaland three ahead of Mbappe and five clear of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Messi sits eighth on that list with 60 goals in 97 matches, while he also sits third for assists in the same period (38 – beaten only by Bruno Fernandes' 39 and Thomas Muller's 51) and has hit the woodwork more than anyone (27 times).

Regarding a possible return for Messi, Masip said: "Nothing is impossible, but there have been no winks as such from the club."

Messi is enduring a tough first season at Paris Saint-Germain and has scored just two Ligue 1 goals for the French league leaders. The Argentinian hit a record 672 goals for Barcelona.

He signed a two-year deal with PSG in August 2021, with an option for a third year.

Haaland appears a likelier acquisition for Barcelona than Messi, although the club's tune appears to change regularly when it comes to talk of the prolific Dortmund frontman.

Laporta earlier this month seemed to dampen expectation of such a deal, given the hefty cost involved.

"Even if we had the best economic situation, there are operations we would not do," Laporta told Esport3.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has said he and his team-mates "must live up to history" after suffering a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of rivals Barcelona in El Clasico.

Goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres condemned Madrid to a shock humbling at the Santiago Bernabeu, though they remain nine points clear at the top of LaLiga ahead of second-placed Sevilla.

Los Blancos head coach Carlo Ancelotti apologised after the game, saying: "It was not a good night, we are sorry for the fans, but we have to look forward. We have an advantage, we have to rest and come back."

On Monday, Courtois was also in a reflective mood, stopping short of apologising in a pair of Twitter posts, but insisting the players will bounce back from their first Clasico defeat in three years.

"Yesterday was a sad day, but we are a team," the Belgium international posted. "Whether we win or lose, we do it together and we will react in the same way.

"I know it's still painful to think about it and ask for it, but trust that this team will give everything to win the titles we have at stake.

"We are in the best position to do it and we are Real Madrid, we must live up to history and you Madridistas. Now more than ever #HalaMadrid".

Madrid are due to play Courtois' former club Chelsea in the quarter-final of the Champions League after a dramatic 3-2 aggregate win over Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16.

The pressure mounted on Paris Saint-Germain again after another defeat in Ligue 1 this weekend.

The Parisians are 12 points clear at the top but have lost four of their past six games.

Lionel Messi has only netted twice in Ligue 1 since his move from Barcelona, while fellow free signing Sergio Ramos has also only played five times.

TOP STORY – PSG TO BLOCK MESSI OR RAMOS RETURNS

Marca reports that PSG would block any potential return to Barcelona or Real Madrid for either Messi or Ramos respectively.

The Ligue 1 giants signed both players last year from those respective clubs, yet there has been reports claiming they may want to return to Spain.

Ramos has struggled with injury while Messi has not been able to discover his best goalscoring form, but PSG are eager to hold on to them.

Messi joined on a two-year deal last August, while Ramos also penned a two-year deal last July.

ROUND-UP

- Bayern Munich have made an opening bid for Ajax's Ryan Gravenberch according to Fabrizio Romano. The fee is approximately €25million but Ajax want more.

- Chelsea, Liverpool, PSG and Madrid are all circling for Monaco's Aurelien Tchouameni but the Ligue 1 club will not accept less than €50m for him claims Foot Mercato.

- Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti wants to sign Inter midfielder Nicolo Barella according to El Nacional. Barella's arrival could force Toni Kroos out too.

- Aston Villa are prepared to pay £60m for Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips claims The Times.

Barcelona head coach Xavi and captain Sergio Busquets have both not ruled out a remarkable late title push after their stunning 4-0 Clasico victory.

The Blaugrana overwhelmed league-leading Real Madrid with a double from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang along with strikes from Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The victory means third-placed Barcelona have 54 points from 28 games, but still trail Madrid by 12 points although the Catalans do have a game in hand.

But Barcelona have been buoyed by an exceptional turnaround in form since Xavi's arrival as boss along with their flurry of January transfers which have boosted the side.

The Blaugrana are on a 10-match unbeaten streak in LaLiga while they have won their past five league games.

Barcelona has a record of eight wins and three draws from 11 matches in all competitions since the closure of the January transfer window too, offering them momentum.

"I don't know if we can win the title, we can't rule out anything," Xavi told reporters after the Clasico. "Maybe we're a bit late, but this is a very big win for us.

"We were much better than Real Madrid. We played almost as a home team in the the ground. It's a day to enjoy, not only as a Barca manager but also a fan.

"We could easily have scored five or six. We changed our negative dynamic of losing the last few Clasicos."

Busquets reiterated Xavi's sentiment that Barca retained some title hope, albeit small.

"If we still have a small chance to make a run for the title, we will fight until the end," the 33-year-old midfielder said. "It's very difficult but in football anything can happen. We are Barca."

In just three words, Barcelona centre back Gerard Pique summed up the feelings of Blaugrana die-hards after beating Real Madrid 4-0: "We are back."

It was a stunning display away from home at the Santiago Bernabeu for Xavi's side, netting two goals in each half to spin the Spanish football world on its axis for a night.

Pique played all 90 minutes alongside centre back partner Eric Garcia, marshalling a stout defence to a stylish clean sheet and providing an outlet for the Barcelona midfielders as they retained 60 percent of possession.

Barca are now on a 10-match unbeaten streak in LaLiga, with six wins and four draws, as well as making it through to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, where they will play Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Camp Nou club also has a record of eight wins and three draws from 11 matches in all competitions since the closing of the January transfer window, sporting a goal-difference of plus-21 during that span.

Since Xavi took over in early November, Barcelona have taken 37 points from 16 LaLiga games, while Madrid have claimed 39 from 17 outings, indicating the rivalry may be much closer than this season's table indicates.

Carlo Ancelotti apologised for Real Madrid's shocking 4-0 capitulation to Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu, admitting: "It's all gone wrong."

Madrid, who still hold a nine-point lead over second-placed Sevilla in LaLiga, were mauled by a resurgent Barcelona as Xavi's first taste of this LaLiga clash as a coach ended in glorious triumph for the visitors.

Barcelona are nowhere near being in the hunt for the league title this season, but this was a fifth consecutive win in the competition, and in four of those games they have hit four goals. They are now third and pushing to finish second.

Since his November appointment, Xavi's Barcelona have taken 37 points from 16 games in LaLiga, while Madrid have 39 from 17 outings.

These great rivals are going toe to toe again in the second half of the season, and it is little wonder Madrid want to sign Kylian Mbappe to strengthen their ranks for next term, given momentum is suddenly all with Barcelona.

Ancelotti nudged Luka Modric into more of an attacking role, the 36-year-old midfielder deployed as a false nine in the absence of a genuine number nine in Karim Benzema, who is injured and was sorely missed.

The head coach said that was intended as a means of taking control of the ball and looking to press high, with Modric primed to bring others into the game.

"And it hasn't worked out," Ancelotti said. "When they advanced, we lost control. They hurt us. It was not a good night, we are sorry for the fans, but we have to look forward. We have an advantage, we have to rest and come back.

"I tried to push up and it hasn't come off, my fault. It's hard because it's a Clasico, we're very sorry, it's a blow, we've lost a battle, but we have an advantage, we have to be calm, calm and recover. We don't have to make a drama out of this match. We're sorry. It's all gone wrong, we have to forget it and look forward."

With four defeats in six editions of El Clasico as a coach, Ancelotti has found it difficult to manage this fixture.

"I've failed in this game, but I'm not making a big deal out of it," he said.

This is Ancelotti's second stint in charge of Los Blancos, after he was lured away from Everton ahead of this season. His Madrid side won 2-1 at Camp Nou in October, prior to Xavi's arrival, and then beat Barcelona 3-2 after extra time in the Supercopa semi-finals in January.

Former Barca playmaker Xavi has increasingly brought a serenity to affairs at a club where there was considerable chaos earlier in the campaign.

Now it will be Ancelotti's task to ensure Madrid are not left scarred by a defeat in which Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ran the hosts ragged, scoring twice and teeing up another goal for Ferran Torres. Ronald Araujo also beat Thibaut Courtois, whose goal was peppered with shots as Madrid defended dreadfully.

Xavi became the third Barcelona coach to win his first LaLiga Clasico by four or more goals, after Ferdinand Daucik in 1951 (7-2) and Helenio Herrera in 1959 (4-0).

Ancelotti is optimistic Madrid's supporters will allow him and the team a blip, even one of such scale against the club's greatest enemies.

"They understood that it was not a good night," Ancelotti said. "We don't know what will happen in the coming months. We can recover and win the next game. I don't think this will affect the team."

Barcelona head coach Xavi said the 4-0 Clasico thumping of Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu was the perfect template for how he wants his side to play.

A Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang brace and goals from Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres sealed a memorable win for the Blaugrana, who had lost their previous five games against Carlo Ancelotti's league leaders.

The win meant Xavi became just the third coach to win his first Clasico match by four or more goals in LaLiga history, after Ferdinand Daucik in 1951 and Helenio Herrera in 1959.

Barca were superior to their hosts in every department and Xavi believes his side can be a match for anyone if they continue to perform at that standard.

"We didn't expect to be so superior at their stadium," he told a media conference.

"They've had a rest week and we arrived from Turkey [after playing Galatasaray] on Friday. We played a spectacular game and I leave very satisfied.

"We have been far superior to Madrid, in the game and the result. We leave with tremendous satisfaction and a smile from ear to ear.

"I'm very happy for Barcelona for what it represents. It can change the dynamics of the present and future.

"Has Barca returned? I'll leave it to you. But yes, this is the idea and the game model to follow. We have very good players and they enjoy themselves on the pitch.

"And I would highlight how they work, how they help the team. We are a family in the locker room and is very important. 

"I'm very proud and happy. Barcelona fans have to enjoy it because lately we haven't had much joy, especially in the Clasicos. Playing like this we can compete with anyone.

"I'm very happy for the players, they've shown they're great footballers and it means a lot. I'm a rookie as a coach and winning 4-0 here strengthens me a lot. Barca has to compete playing this way."

Despite the result, third-placed Barca are still 12 points adrift of leaders Madrid, although they do have a game in hand. 

Xavi stopped short of claiming Barca are back in the title race, but he did say there is still plenty left for his side to achieve this season.  

"There is work to do," he added. "We won three points, it's not a title. Let's keep working, there's a lot left. The objectives have not been covered, not even for this season.

"I've already said it, as well as being a coach, I feel for this club. I think it's the best club in the world. We're going to celebrate now and enjoy it."

Barca are next in action on April 3 when they host second-placed Sevilla. 

Dani Alves says Barcelona "lived a night to frame" after an emphatic 4-0 Clasico victory over Real Madrid on Sunday.

Having not beaten their rivals since March 2019, the Blaugrana ended their three-year wait in spectacular fashion at Santiago Bernabeu.

The in-form Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a brace, while Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres were also on target during the comprehensive rout.

Xavi's side trail the LaLiga leaders by 12 points, but still have a game in hand and are full of momentum after stretching their unbeaten run over 90 minutes to 20 matches across all competitions.

Alves, who replaced Jordi Alba for the final four minutes, was a regular feature in El Clasico during his initial stint with Barca between 2008 and 2016.

When asked if this was his favourite victory over Madrid, the defender said: "It is difficult; winning here is always a pleasure and I would not choose, but always the moment is special. 

"We haven't beaten them for a while and breaking the streak is special.

"Once again, here in the rival's house, we have lived a night to frame.

"The mission is to recover our identity and this will take us to the top. That was always the case, and it will not change. Barca has a way of playing and a philosophy and that is what has made Barca great. 

"LaLiga is difficult, but they are letting us dream and dreaming is free. We have to do our part and see what happens."

Fellow defender Eric Garcia felt the performance epitomised the great strides Barcelona have made following their difficult start to the campaign.

"It's a perfect night," he added. "The first part, even I was surprised by how we played; a spectacular level and we have shown what we are capable of. 

"The season started in a hard way, but we are young, we want to beat the world, and we have to continue like this. 

"It is a spectacular result and hopefully, the following years we can get results like that."

Barcelona ended a five-game losing streak against Real Madrid in sensational style as they sealed an emphatic 4-0 Clasico victory at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.

Xavi's men were dominant from the outset and went in at the break two goals up following headers from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ronald Araujo.

They picked up where they left off at the start of the second period, with Ferran Torres and Aubameyang completing the scoring before the hour mark.

The Blaugrana are still 12 points behind Carlo Ancelotti's league leaders, although Xavi's third-placed side do have a game in hand. 

Federico Valverde drew a smart stop from Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the early stages, while at the other end Thibaut Courtois denied Aubameyang and Ousmane Dembele in quick succession.

Torres then whipped narrowly wide from just outside the penalty area before Barca's dominance bore fruit in the 29th minute when Aubameyang headed in Dembele's right-wing cross from inside the six-yard box.

Courtois denied Aubameyang a second soon after, yet Madrid found themselves 2-0 behind after 38 minutes when an unmarked Araujo nodded home Dembele's corner from eight yards.

Torres made amends for a glaring miss 20 seconds into the second half with Barca's third in the 47th minute, the Spain international slamming into the net after he had been superbly picked out by Aubameyang's back-heeled pass. 

Aubameyang made it 4-0 in the 51st minute with a sumptuous finish over Courtois after being played in by Torres, the goal given by VAR after it had initially been ruled out for offside. 

Torres, Aubameyang and Dembele all had wonderful chances to compound Madrid's misery further, yet it mattered little in the end as Barca extended their unbeaten away run in LaLiga to 11 games in memorable fashion. 

What does it mean? Barca stun Ancelotti's insipid charges

Only Sevilla have conceded fewer goals than Madrid in LaLiga this season, yet Los Blancos' backline had no answer to Barca's breathtaking attacking display.

The result meant Xavi became only the second Blaugrana head coach to remain unbeaten after his first 10 away games in LaLiga after Ernesto Valverde, who did not lose any of his first 18. If the Catalan giants continue to play like this on the road, Xavi will have no issues powering past that record.

Aubameyang's hot streak continues

Aubameyang has wasted little time making an impact since his arrival from Arsenal last month. The Gabon international has now scored in each of his last five meetings with Madrid (seven goals), making him the first player to score in five successive games against Los Blancos in the 21st century.

Madrid's dismal defence

Eder Militao and David Alaba endured a torrid time against Barca's supreme forward line. The visitors broke through the duo's wafer-thin resistance with alarming ease and could easily have won by an even greater margin, with a combination of wasteful finishing and Courtois' goalkeeping stopping the scoring at four.

What's next?

Madrid are next in action on April 2 when they visit Celta Vigo in LaLiga, while Barca travel to Sevilla in the Spanish top flight a day later.

Manchester City have topped the Deloitte Football Money League for the first time.

The reigning Premier League champions became just the fourth club ever to come top of the Deloitte list, which examines the top-performing football clubs in terms of revenue every year.

City's revenue of £571.1million (€644.9m) over 2020-21 saw them climb from sixth to first for 2022. Their annual figure has grown by nearly 45 times since the first year of the Money League covering the 1996-97 season.

Real Madrid (€640.7m) came second and Bayern Munich (€611.4m) were third and were the only two clubs to generate more than €600m of revenue in both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years.

Barcelona (€582.1m) fell to fourth, with Manchester United (€558m) in fifth, the lowest position they have ever occupied. Paris Saint-Germain (€556.2m), Liverpool (€550.4m), Chelsea (€493.1m), Juventus (€433.5m) and Tottenham (€406.2m) completed the top 10.

Premier League clubs dominate the higher rankings, with 11 teams from England's top flight in the top 20, including Wolves for the first time.

Matchday revenues across the leagues fell to an all-time low of €111m, or one per cent of the clubs' total revenue, due to the impact of playing behind-closed-door matches during the heigh of the coronavirus pandemic in Europe.

Broadcast revenue increased by €1.4billion from 2019-20, but that was largely put down to the distribution of funds being deferred after domestic competitions were put on hold and then completed later in the year.

In total, the clubs in the Money League generated €8.2bn in revenue, an increase of less than one per cent on 2019-20 and more than €1bn lower than in 2018-19.

"Money League clubs have missed out on well over €2bn of revenue over the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons as a result of COVID-19," Deloitte said.

Michael Laudrup has questioned whether Barcelona need to sign Erling Haaland and is unsure whether the Norwegian would suit Xavi's style of play.

The Borussia Dortmund striker, who has hit 16 Bundesliga goals at a rate of just 75.31 minutes per goal this campaign, has been linked with a close-season move to many of Europe's biggest clubs.

Barcelona have been touted as a possible destination for the 21-year-old, but club president Joan Laporta recently suggested that such a transfer might be beyond the Catalan Giants, saying he wouldn't "do deals that could put the institution at risk".

Former Blaugrana forward Laudrup, who scored 40 league goals during a five-year spell at Camp Nou between 1989 and 1994, pondered whether Haaland's attributes would suit the patient passing game preferred by head coach and Barca legend Xavi.

"I have doubts as to whether he [Xavi] needs a striker like him," Laudrup told Catalonian radio station RAC1.

"I don't argue with Haaland as a goalscorer. He's incredible. He keeps scoring and scoring and it's no coincidence. The only thing is that he is a very physical player who needs a little space. 

"He is not the ideal player [for Barcelona], he does not participate with the ball and in combinations in narrow spaces. He has to play in a team that plays and then gives him balls. 

"He will always score goals in any team but I have doubts about how he plays compared to how he plays with Barca".

Ahead of their huge Clasico clash with Real Madrid on Sunday, Barcelona have taken 34 points from 15 games in LaLiga since Xavi took over as coach, a record bettered only by Madrid, who have taken 39 points in that period.

Barcelona were languishing in ninth place in LaLiga when Xavi's predecessor Ronald Koeman departed, but Laudrup, who won the 1992 European Cup alongside Koeman as part of Johan Cruyff's legendary Blaugrana side, says his former team-mate did not get the same level of backing from the club's hierarchy as Xavi has.

"I haven't spoken with him [Koeman] recently," Laudrup added. "But I have followed Barca also in Ronald's time and his moment was a difficult moment for Barcelona, due to the debt, Messi's goodbye. 

"Ronald came at the most difficult time for Barcelona in recent years. He had a lot of problems. 

"Now Xavi has come and things have improved, the easiest thing is to say that with Xavi things are going much better. Xavi will be a great coach, and I'm not saying this to defend Ronald, but in his [Koeman's] time, due to some circumstances, there were no chances of signing [new players]. 

"Now with Xavi in January, Ferran [Torres] arrived, [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang and Adama [Traore]. You have to remember those chances that Xavi has had, Ronald didn't have.

"Justice in football, sometimes [it] exists and sometimes [it] doesn't. Ronald will have had his faults, like everyone else, but he hasn't had the squad possibilities that there are now with Xavi."

Spotify's new $235million deal with Barcelona has given the Spanish side some extra spending money, and all eyes are on Manchester United's Paul Pogba.

The Red Devils were eliminated from the Champions League by Atletico Madrid, and currently occupy fifth spot in the Premier League table in what has been a disappointing season.

Pogba recently made headlines after his home was burgled while he played in the second leg of United's tie against Atletico, coming off the bench in the 1-0 loss at Old Trafford.

TOP STORY – BARCELONA CLOSE IN ON POGBA 

According to The Daily Star, Barcelona's recent windfall has the club looking around at options to add to Xavi's side, with Pogba now considered within their price range and near the top of the list.

Pogba, 29, has nine assists and one goal in his 16 Premier League appearances this season, with his contract set to expire this summer.

Meanwhile, TuttoJuve say Manchester United have identified Dutch 19-year-old Ryan Gravenberch as a potential replacement if they can pry him away from Ajax. 

ROUND-UP

- Barcelona coach Xavi has said club legend Lionel Messi will "always be welcome" back at Camp Nou. However, Marca also report that Messi does not plan to leave Paris Saint-Germain during his two-year contract.

- According to Fichajes, Newcastle United are interested in signing superstar forward Neymar, who is under contract at PSG through 2025.

- Juventus are to target a move for Manchester City's Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus, The Daily Star reports, if the English giants manage to sign Norwegian striker Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.

- La Gazzetta dello Sport suggest that Antonio Rudiger is set to join Juventus when his Chelsea contract expires this summer, signing a four-year deal with the iconic Italian club.

- Chelsea's Cesar Azpilicueta has agreed to a free transfer to Barcelona, with the deal expected to be completed at the end of the season according to Football Insider.

- The agent of Chelsea midfielder Jorginho said he would one day like to return to Serie A, according to The Daily Mirror. The 30-year-old Italian spent three seasons with Hellas Verona, and five seasons with Napoli before heading to the Premier League.

Xavi has explained that Barcelona will always welcome Lionel Messi back while he is coach of the Blaugrana.

Messi left Barca last year in a move that stunned the world of football, with the Spanish giants unable to afford to fulfil the terms of a new contract that had been all but agreed with the 34-year-old.

That meant Messi could leave as a free agent and he joined Paris Saint-Germain, though his switch to the French capital has not quite hit the expected heights just yet. 

PSG look set to cruise to the Ligue 1 title yet fell to a humbling defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16.

Messi, who will miss PSG's clash with Monaco this weekend due to illness, has scored just seven goals in all competitions.

However, along with Kylian Mbappe, he does top the assists chart in Ligue 1 with 10 so far, while his 48 chances created ranks him as the most creative player in PSG's squad in the French top flight.

There has been speculation that Messi could leave PSG at the end of the season and though it seems unlikely that the Parisians would be willing to lose him and Mbappe, who is out of contract and seems set to join Madrid, Xavi would not turn down the opportunity to be reunited with his former team-mate, whether that be as a sensational transfer or simply as a visitor.

"Messi has earned having the doors open to Barca," Xavi told a news conference ahead of El Clasico on Sunday.

"As long as I'm the coach here, if he wants to come every day to watch training or talk to the coach, what he's given us is priceless, he's the best player in history.

"He deserves a big tribute from the club. But today he has a contract with PSG, I think he signed for two years."

Xavi called on Barcelona to change their recent fortunes against Real Madrid, although he was unsure whether his side struggled with an "inferiority complex" against their Clasico rivals.

Barca are 15 points adrift of Carlo Ancelotti's runaway LaLiga leaders and have lost their past five games against Madrid in all competitions.

That streak has only been bettered once in meetings between the two rivals, with Los Blancos enjoying a seven-game winning run between April 1962 and February 1965.

However, since Xavi's arrival, Barca have climbed to third in the league, taking 34 points from 15 games in LaLiga, a record only beaten by Madrid in that period (39 points).

The Blaugrana head coach wants his side to call upon that recent form to right the wrongs of previous clashes with Ancelotti's team.

"I don't know if there was an inferiority complex, I wasn't in charge," Xavi told reporters at Saturday's pre-match news conference when asked about Barca's recent Clasico record.

"It's a great opportunity to change history, and a win would greatly support what we're working on.

"I don't know if we arrive with more self-esteem than previous years, but we do have good dynamics and enthusiasm against a rival who are in great form.

"We have to be brave, trying to impose our ideas, but also calm because there will be moments of everything. From my experience, I can transmit calm; it is just another chance for three points, and we have to try to enjoy the occasion.

"Luckily, I have very good memories of great victories and great feelings having played very good games there [at the Santiago Bernabeu] and also winning, something that does not always happen."

Barca will be boosted by the confirmed absence of Madrid talisman Karim Benzema, who limped off towards the end of Monday's 3-0 win over Real Mallorca.

The France international tops the LaLiga scoring charts this season with 22 goals, finding the net on average once every 93.6 minutes, and also leads the way with 11 assists.

Xavi acknowledged Benzema's injury will be a blow to Madrid's chances, with the striker having scored in two of his past three meetings with Barca in all competitions, as many as he had in his previous 16 appearances against the Blaugrana.

"Benzema is one of the best strikers in the world, it's a bad loss, but for us our approach doesn't change," Xavi said. "I suppose that for them it can change something.

"How to replace Benzema is a question for Ancelotti, but he has options."

Even with victory in the Spanish capital, Xavi acknowledges Barca's chances of a title push remain incredibly slim.

Asked if there was greater pressure to win against Madrid to spark a late surge, he responded: "I don't see it that way, the pressure is the same.

"If we win, we would be closer to the first objective, which is to be in the Champions League next season. But I see winning the league as complicated. We would be within 12 points, with a game in hand, it is complicated.

"If we win, I do see a parallel with 2004 [a 2-1 win at Madrid]. That victory didn't help us win the league either, but it did strengthen us and change the dynamic, as could happen now."