Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said before the club's Spanish league match against Deportivo Alavés on Saturday 31 October that he has not ruled out signing a centre-back in the upcoming winter transfer window. Flick also addressed Barcelona's defending and the Ballon d'Or.
Winter transfer window plans
AS carried Flick's press conference comments, including: "Will the club sign a centre-back? I spoke about this when the transfer market opened, and I said that we are always looking for what is best for the team and how to improve it."
Flick added: "We will see what happens. We still have a few weeks before the winter transfer market opens. We talk daily about many matters with Deco, Bojan and the members of my coaching staff. If we can do something, then perhaps we will do it."
Defending issues
On the fragility of the defensive system, Flick said: "In the end, defending is not the responsibility of the back line alone, but rather the forward also takes part in the defensive process. Everyone is responsible for that."
He also said: "First of all, we must not lose the ball easily. We lost some balls against Real Madrid, and that is not good. It usually happens to us, and we have to play with more intelligence and focus."
Flick added: "When we defend inside the penalty area, it is also important to mark the opponents well, and that is something we did not do either. We have to improve these aspects. We train on them, we take them into account, and we talk about them with the players."
Ballon d'Or comments
Flick said: "Harry Kane deserved to win it too. You know my opinion about Lamine, as I believe he has the level that qualifies him to win this award. I have said that to him and to the team."
He continued: "But what I see and what I feel is that I am extremely proud of Yamal. His reaction was good, and what I see in training is that he has great focus. That is how champions behave, and I am very happy that he is following this approach and has this mentality."
Flick's final word was: "We accept it. And I am pleased that this file is over, so that we can focus on matters that are extremely important to us."
