Xavi: 'Barcelona should not re-sign players – I would never do it’

While Barcelona have recently announced an agreement to sign Nelson Semedo from Benfica, there has also been talk that they are looking to bring Hector Bellerin back from Arsenal.

The current squad now contains three players who left and then re-joined with Gerard Deulofeu being added to Gerard Pique and Denis Suarez, while former midfielder Cesc Fabregas has left twice, first to go to Arsenal and then to Chelsea.

However, Xavi told Sport: "I would never sign a player who has left Barca.

"I haven't seen him [Bellerin] play too much, but I will say one thing: it would be difficult for me to sign a player we already had. I would not like to participate in resigning players that left. At 16 or 17, why did they leave?

"I see it as baffling and I don't understand it. It surprises me greatly what they have done like Mboula and Eric García. I would not bring them back in the future. That's my philosophy: you were here, you wanted to leave and now you don't return."

Speaking to Mundo Deportivo, Xavi added that one day he would love to be the Barca manager but threw his support behind the new man in the job, Ernesto Valverde.

"It is the objective and I don't hide it," he said. "I have a lot of hope that I can work for Barcelona. I don't know about working in the dugout but I see myself more on the bench than in the office and that's clear. To train Barcelona is a dream, but for that you have to be very prepared and it demands a lot of you."

On Valverde, he added: "Barca is 100% correct."