(Barcelona) Xavi Hernández will become Barcelona’s next coach after paying his release clause from the Al-Sadd club, the Qatari club have confirmed.
Barcelona declined to comment on Spanish media reports that Xavi’s buyout clause is five million euros (CAN 7.2 million).
“Al-Sadd’s administration agreed to transfer Xavi to Barcelona after payment of the release clause stipulated in the contract,” Al-Sadd Chairman and CEO Turki Al-Ali said in a statement. publication on the club’s Twitter account. We have agreed to a collaboration with Barcelona in the future. Xavi is an important part of Al-Sadd’s story and we wish him success. ”
The former Spanish midfielder will replace Ronald Koeman, fired last week. Sergi Barjuan has managed Barcelona since then. He will take over the management of the reserve team.
Xavi, 41, left Barcelona in 2015 after helping the club win 25 titles, including four Champions Leagues and eight Spanish leagues in 17 seasons. He also played a key role in Spain’s title streak when it won the 2010 World Cup and European Championships in 2008 and 2012.
Since then he has been at Al-Sadd, first as a player and then as a coach.
His vision for the game, his assists and Xavi’s ability to keep the ball under pressure made him essential in leading both Barcelona and the Spanish national team to their most successful eras.
Barcelona club president Joan Laporta is now hoping that as a manager Xavi can rekindle Barcelona’s beloved attacking style of suffocating ball possession and complex passing moves.
But Xavi will arrive without any major league coaching experience and face the same daunting challenge that led to Koeman’s downfall: Barcelona are no longer the Barcelona they left behind as a player.
The squad’s exhausted finances have robbed him of former teammate Lionel Messi and other top players like Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suárez.
Xavi will inherit a struggling side in the Spanish league and it is not yet guaranteed that they will advance to the group stage of the Champions League.
It will also be seen whether Xavi’s personal relationship with veterans Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba, all former teammates, will help or handicap him as he continues the rebuilding that Koeman started.
In his favor, Xavi can benefit from the work started by Koeman, who brought several young players into his starting XI. Especially, Pedri González, who also had a superb year with Spain, and Gavi Páez seem perfectly suited to Xavi’s playing style.