Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde hopes for more new signings

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Camp Nou, Aug 28: Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde has claimed that the Catalan side will make more signings ahead of this week's transfer deadline window after watching his side make it two wins from two in La Liga matches on Saturday, with a 2-0 triumph over Deportivo Alaves.

Lionel Messi scored twice after the break, having missed the first-half penalty, securing a comfortable victory for the Spanish giants.

Barca's new midfielder, Paulinho, made his debut in the later minutes of the match and earlier the Football fraternity saw the Catalan club confirm the club-record breaking deal of Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund for an initial fee of €105 million.

The France international became their fifth signing of the Summer after Marlon Santos, Gerard Deulofeu, Nelson Semedo and Paulinho and become the second-most expensive footballer of all time.

However, according to reports, Barcelona are not ready to stop yet as the Copa Del Ray winners want more business before the finish of the month with Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho is believed to be their main target.

"We hope that when August 31 arrives and the transfer market closes we have a more competitive team," Valverde told a news conference when asked if there would be more arrivals, without giving in to names.

"I will work with the players I have got, but we hope to have an even better team and we're open [to signings] if we have a chance, that's clear."

Valverde also suggested that he was pleased with the way his players fought in the match against Depertivo and proposed they have shown to be unmoved by reports of the squad getting unsettled after humiliating 5-1 defeat against Real Madrid over two legs and departure of Neymar.

"It was a very tricky game, difficult because they closed the game down with very little space," he said. "They sat very deep and it was difficult to find spaces.

"We had to be very patient. It was also hot, but we were able to get things right.

"Leo had chances to score more goals, he had the bad luck of missing the penalty. We're at a point where Barca are spoken about a lot and it seems like that can have an effect, and the team showed that that isn't the case.

"We've gone through difficult moments and we've overcome them. We have six points and we go on."