Xavi admits financial restrictions could hinder Barcelona summer transfer plans

Barcelona manager Xavi admits he is unsure how the club's financial problems will affect his summer transfer spending plans.

The Catalan giants take on Celta Vigo at Camp Nou on Tuesday with the team sitting second in the table, 12 points behind champions Real Madrid and four ahead of Sevilla, with three La Liga games left.

It has been a tough campaign for Xavi, who took over from the sacked Ronald Koeman in November with the club sitting ninth in the table.

They were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage and dropped down to the Europa League for the first time since 2014. And any hopes of a consolation trophy in European football's second-tier competition were ended by German side Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals.

On the domestic front, arch rivals Real have dominated from the start in La Liga, while Barca were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Athletic Bilbao at the last-16 stage.

The club did make some moves in the transfer market with the likes of Dani Alves, Ferran Torres, Adama Traore and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all arriving during the transfer window.

That gave Barca enough of a boost that they are now in pole position to secure second spot in the league and enjoyed a 4-0 Clasico thrashing of Real in March.

But Xavi, whose team will play their home games at the city's Olympic Stadium while the iconic Camp Nou is renovated in the 2023-24 season, has had to deal with huge financial restraints with the club claiming they have had to cut €159 million ($179m) from their wage bill due to the previous board's reckless spending.

BARCELONA PLAYER RATINGS: Neto – 7. Barca’s substitute goalkeeper made a fine save from Juanmi on 63 but couldn’t stop the shouldered effort of former Barca player