Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta has admitted that they will be forced into the transfer market this summer to replace Victor Valdes and Carles Puyol.
The two long-serving academy graduates will the Camp Nou when their respective contracts expire at the end of the season, with Valdes being strongly linked with a move to England.
Barca have already secured a deal to recruit highly-rated teenager Alen Halilovic from Dinamo Zagreb, but Zubizarreta has conceded that the impending departures mean that more signings will be needed.
"We knew that Victor Valdes wasn't going to stay, now we know that Carles Puyol isn't going to either," he told Catalunya Radio.
"They have been two obvious references in our squad. Just taking these two players into account, I would say that it's already now more than the tweaks we had envisaged."
Zubizarreta made over 300 appearances for Barca and 126 for Spain during his career as a goalkeeper.
Joe Fish
