Xavi had been due to leave Barça at the end of the season, but the Champions League exit to PSG prompted a U-turn.
Xavi Hernández has reversed his decision to leave Barcelona at the end of the season and will continue as the head coach of the LaLiga giants in 2024/25. The U-turn has been confirmed at meeting between club bosses after the 44-year-old had said on 27 January he would be leaving the club on 30 June following a tough run of results.
Xavi to stay at Barcelona, but under which conditions?
After talks with the sports director Deco and later with Barça president Joan Laporta at his private residence, an agreement has reportedly been reached. Xavi, who had earlier hinted that he would only stay on if certain conditions were met, has ended up accepting those put on the table by the club.
President Laporta is expected to make an official statement in the media on Thursday confirming Xavi will be continuing as head coach until his contract expires in 2025.
The big questions on Wednesday night surround the conditions under which Xavi has agreed to continue, with speculation that Barça have made demands regarding his the coaching staff.
Will Xavi’s brother Óscar Hernández be removed as assistant coach?
The name of Domènec Torrent, a former assistant to Pep Guardiola at Camp Nou, is one of several that have linked with a role at the club next season. His arrival could see Óscar Hernández, Xavi’s brother, and Sergio Alegre being removed from their current positions as assistant coaches. There are also suggestions club management would like a new fitness coach put in place.
As well as Xavi, Deco and Laporta, sports vice president Rafael Yuste, Alejandro Echevarría, the president’s “unofficial” right-hand man, and football coordinator Bojan Krkic were all involved in the meeting, the outcome of which is that Xavi will stay as head coach until June 2025, when his contract runs out.
After a disappointing season, which will end without a trophy, the former Barça captain will have another chance to lead the club back to their former glories.
Why has Xavi decided to continue as Barcelona head coach?
Xavi had hoped to reach the Champions League final in London and compete with Real Madrid for the league title. Had Barcelona achieved that, there would have been no doubt about him staying on.
However, those closest to him believe his anger at how the Catalans’ UCL elimination at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain came about is what ultimately persuaded him to changed his mind. With Barcelona unfairly knocked out, in his view, Xavi was more determined than ever to continue.
Neither Laporta nor Deco was surprised by the coach’s change of heart, although it has given them an opportunity to make demands. Instead of listening to Xavi’s conditions, they have imposed theirs, and they have been accepted.
It now remains to be seen what the coaching staff set-up will be next season. And, more importantly, how the dressing room will respond after Xavi had previously stated that he would be leaving on 30 June.
What we do know, though, is that Xavi will spend one more year in the Barcelona dugout and he is now expected to be the man to lead them back to Camp Nou towards the end of 2024. But can he also lead them to them to more silverware?
Daphoenix23
475
Gawd..! Another year of complaining about referees and giving excuses. Dude suddenly realized the top clubs are not coming for him nid he leaves Barca so decided to stay. Stop making it sound like he’s staying to win the UCL, it’s not his birthright and he won’t win it even if he stays for another 3 years
Fapdemrtuy
413
Barcelona 70 % need Xavi to discover and promote future young players from barcelona lamasia nurture them and build there confidence for one more years before leaving , he just need to focus on using good player at a right time instead of being racism forget about film of maybe we can compete with any team yes we can it is this same young and players combined with old experience that met realmadrid last season 5 time won Madrid 3 times (1) in Spanish super cup in Saudi (2) won Madrid in laliga with the Aubamayang and co 4-1 in the barnebeau (3) also won Madrid 1-0 club dey Roy first leg at barnebeau ,the only match realmadrid won against barcelona last season is second leg club dey Roy 4-0 at camnou and we play draw Spanish laliga second leg last season on the run of last season Barcelona won Spanish league in Saudi and laliga Madrid only won club dey Roy last season so why are barcelona fans letting Madrid fans riding over them as if Xavi haven't achieve anything for barca as if Xavi stay is a carry over barca need Xavi at the moment no coach can come and rebuild barca now he just need to be a coach for all and not be racism and keep his cool ,,,, even Anceloti i bet can't achieve what Xavi have achieve for barca in two seasons,, Everton during Anceloti period there is just like barca when he was there why cant he even won a FA cup or a Carabao cup for them before leaving we need Xavi for one more season
Fapdemrtuy
360
that's why some of you are dumb educated illiterate Xavi player with alnas in Saudi Arabia and also won trophy for them as a coach they want him back if he decided to leave barca ajax also request for his service did you thinks Anceloti can achieve what Xavi achieve for this current barca in two season or have you forgotten he won barca Spanish laliga and Spanish super cup in Saudi last season but u as dumb as u are you just listen to news were they are discussing about football you grab the negativity of someone you hate without reading by yourself not finding knowledge about the person you come to the comment box and comment jagon to be serious can you beat your chest and say you have someone in your family that is half successful like Xavi before you say no one want him even if Xavi didn't work for the next twenty years are you sure u can be successful like him check your hand work maybe you can
Mariosuarez2
305
. Xavi hanandez team lacks intensity and tactical balance, I commend xavi for the la liga trophy he won with this Barcelona team when they were at their worst period, a former legend comes back that alone will motivate players to there limit ,i think Barcelona won the la liga not base on tactics but based on defense + mentality to impress the legend coach and obviously the sad fans whom has endured without a la Liga trophy for some seasons before xavi came along but mentality without tactics can only last for little time, this might be the highest and only achievement xavi made as a barca coach, because it's almost his 3 years stay in this club but he is yet to implement a high quality tactics to push his team going forward ,in as much as i love la liga if he plays like this in the epl he would have been exposed just like Manchester United and Chelsea , Remember how poor the team was in the Europa League even when they thought they easily should to have won at least one of the europa league they crashed out .
Ubong12
92
He initially claimed to leave even if barca wins the UCL but now changed his mind because they got knocked out?? Imagine the line where he is now GIVEN CONDITIONS by the club if he WANT TO STAY instead of HIM GIVING THE CLUB CONDITION IF THEY WANT HIM TO STAY; i knew this when i read an article where he scouted defenders the club should sign (you wouldn't do that if you were leaving) Not a good one for Xavi; because no matter the financial backing he will be given they can't get him player to battle RM of next season. And i just hope the pressure from the press he was complaining about doesn't get over him again, i wish him the best; this can make KLOPP change his mind too 😁😁