Xavi Hernandez will no longer be on the FC Barcelona bench next season, the club announced on Friday. Return to a departure, decided by the technician in January before being called into question.
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This time, it’s really over. FC Barcelona announced on Friday May 24 in a press release [en espagnol]that the club separated from its coach Xavi Hernandezarrived in November 2021 and under contract until June 2025. A surprising turnaround since a few months ago, Joan Laporta, president of blaugranahad convinced the Spanish coach to go through with the adventure with his favorite club even though the latter had announced his departure.
“The president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, informed this Friday noon Xavi Hernández that he will not continue to coach the first team during the 2024-2025 season“, indicates the club press release. The former captain of the Barcelona team, champion of Spain in 2023, has just had a blank season, despite a second place in La Liga.
On January 27, after a heavy defeat against Villareal (5-3), Xavi announced to everyone’s surprise that he would not go beyond this season, of his own will: “On June 30, I will leave the club, it is a decision that I took with the president, with the staff. I think the situation deserves a change of direction“, he said at a press conference. Rebelote in March. Asked about a change of decision, Xavi was inflexible: “If the club cannot find a suitable solution, would I change my decision? No, as I said before, there will be no change, I will leave.”
Joan Laporta was probably very convincing since, on April 24, a press conference announced that Xavi would finally end his contract [en espagnol] : “He expressed his joy at staying here and continuing this project, the Barca president then declared. He has a lot of ambition. We are certain that this is the best possible news for our club. Stability is one of the most important things to successfully complete a project. (…) We never looked for another coach.” For his part, the former midfielder was delighted to “the confidence of the president, management and players. This project is not yet finished. Me, my staff and the entire club have the strength to achieve important things.”
This departure closes a chapter of reversals, in a context where Xavi did not hesitate to point out the difficult economic situation of the club on May 15 at a press conference: “The situation is complicated, especially economically, to compete with the best competitors, whether Real Madrid in Spain or others in Europe.” The reconciliation only lasted a few weeks. Xavi will still be on the FC Barcelona bench for the last match of the season on Sunday May 26 at Sevilla FC.