Barca plan ‘first summer signing’ – it’s not even a player

Barcelona have decided to hire Julio Tous, a strength and conditioning coach, reports Diario Sport’s Toni Juanmarti.

The club want to optimise the players’ physical performance to the maximum and reduce the number of injuries.

The 52-year-old is considered one of the best specialists in this field. He was Antonio Conte’s right-hand man at Juventus, Italy’s national team, Chelsea and Inter Milan. Conte, in turn, is known for how physically-prepared his teams are.

Tous was Barca’s fitness coach for some time in 2004 when Frank Rijkaard was the head coach.

Earlier, it was reported that Deco had asked Xavi to make two changes to his staff – one of them had to do with a fitness coach. Xavi has announced there will be no changes to his staff, although this doesn’t mean there will be no additions.