Xavi wants second forward signing, Barcelona director not on the same page

Barcelona may have completed the signing of Ferran Torres in a £46.7 million deal ahead of the January transfer window, but Xavi Hernandez is still not satisfied. The Catalan club's new manager wants to bring in a traditional number nine, and has made Alvaro Morata his top target.

Xavi lost Sergio Aguero after the Argentine forward was forced to call time on his career owing to heart problems, leaving the Barcelona manager short in the attacking department. Luuk de Jong and Martin Braithwaite are available to the manager, but both are not considered viable options in the long-term.

Morata, who is on a season-long at Juventus from La Liga side Atletico Madrid, has emerged as the Barcelona boss' primary target with Xavi even initiating contact with the Spain international about a move to the Camp Nou in January. The former Real Madrid attacker is said to be open to returning to his homeland and is ready to force a move if necessary.

According to Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Xavi has been calling Morata regularly about returning to La Liga, but Juventus are not willing to let him leave unless they find a suitable replacement. The Serie A club have also reportedly informed Atletico that they will not be triggering the €40 million option to make the deal permanent in the summer.

Meanwhile, Xavi has informed Morata about a more long-term vision, which will see him join the Catalan club on a permanent basis in the summer. Barcelona could use Antoine Griezmann, who is currently on loan at Atletico, to engineer a potential swap deal with Diego Simeone's side already obligated to pay around €40 million to sign him permanently.

However, despite Xavi's heavy interest in signing Morata, it remains unclear if he will have the support of the management. Barcelona director of football Matheu Alemany admitted recently that the club's crippling financial issues are still holding them back from registering Torres, which makes it difficult to bring in another player unless they majorly slash their inflated wage bill and offload players.

Ferrán Torres can't be registered now - but we hope to solve that situation when he is available. Demir sale could help, we're on it. Let's see what happens with Luuk de Jong," Alemany said, as per Romano. "Morata deal? Xavi asked for Ferrán, he had the present he wanted."