Barcelona head coach Xavi has said that the club cannot afford to sign players like Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland due to their economic situation. Barcelona is currently placed fourth in La Liga, 10 points off arch-rivals Real Madrid.

While speaking to reporters, as quoted by Reuters, Xavi was asked about the club’s recruitment plans around big-name stars like Manchester City’s Haaland or Paris Saint-Germain’s Mbappe for the January transfer window, to which the Spaniard replied by saying the Catalan club cannot afford to sign these players.

“I have to deal with the players I have, because right now we are not able to think about those kinds of signings. Unfortunately, we are not in a privileged situation economically to do that. I am left with the players I have, and with those players we have to win. We have to win titles and we have to play well because the bar is very high,” said Xavi.

Barcelona has played 18 matches in the La Liga this season, winning 11, drawing five and losing two, to accumulate 38 points. They find themselves sandwiched between Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao in fourth place.

While they’ve scored 34 goals in the league this season, their defensive display has been far from spectacular, conceding as many as 21 goals in 18 matches. Poland striker Robert Lewandowski has been their top-scorer, netting eight goals, while Brazilian winger Raphinha has provided the most assists (5).

The 27-time La Liga champions had to deal with injuries to important players like Pedri, Ilkay Gundogan, Gavi, Marcos Alonso, Frenkie de Jong and Marc ter Stegen, which affected their performance in the league.

They will now be facing Las Palmas in their next league match on January 5. They have also qualified for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, where they will face Napoli in the round of 16.