FC Barcelona has had a bad week: it fell in the Champions League and then lost to Real Madrid, making the title seem likely to fly. But on Wednesday there was also good news for the Catalans. Several sources report that Xavi Hernandez will remain on board as head coach.
After years of setting the tone for the Catalan midfield, it was written in the stars that Xavi would return to Camp Nou as head coach after his playing career. However, he first learned the tricks of the trade at the Qatari Al-Sadd. And in the autumn of 2021 his big comeback followed.
At the insistence of chairman Joan Laporta, the former international was brought in as the new head coach. Although the circumstances were not exactly obvious given the financial problems. Through all kinds of accounting tricks, Barça managed to provide Xavi with the necessary reinforcements in the summer of 2022.
Farewell announced
And that paid off in the end. He led his team to the Spanish national title last season, the first in four years. At the same time, however, performance on the European stage was disappointing. And in the current year, both the results and the game delivered remain quite variable, which led to some criticism of the coach.
He therefore decided to pull the plug on the troubled Xavi himself. After the 3-5 defeat against Villarreal at the end of January, the trainer announced that he will end it after the season. However, he had extended his contract in the autumn until mid-2025. Since then, various names of potential successors have been doing the rounds.
Complete turnaround
But the search for a new head coach can already be stopped. In recent weeks there has been extensive speculation about an extended stay for Xavi. And by now he would have completely recovered. According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, a meeting took place with Laporta on Wednesday evening. Xavi is said to have agreed to the conditions and guarantees that were put on the table. In principle, he will remain in post until the end of next season.
