Xavi had originally announced that he would step down as FC Barcelona coach in the summer. This is now unlikely to happen. The 44-year-old has backed out
As recently as January, Xavi no longer wanted to stay, had declared that he did not want to fulfill his contract with the Blaugrana, which runs until 2025, and announced his resignation for this summer. At the time, he cited the great pressure, but also the media echo surrounding FC Barcelona, as his reasons, as well as wanting to clear the way for fresh impetus within the team.
People in the Catalan metropolis were not too happy about this, many would have liked the club legend to stay. And recently there were rumors of a possible change of heart. These have now been confirmed.
At a meeting with FCB officials, including president Joan Laporta, sporting director Deco and vice-president Rafa Yuste, it was agreed that the employment relationship would now continue until June 2025 as originally agreed. Numerous Spanish media outlets had unanimously reported this, while the club itself first confirmed this to the newspaper El Pais and then to the news agency AFP.
This solves a problem for Barcelona, who have been searching for a suitable successor ever since it became known that Xavi wanted to retire – and they have not found one. The Catalans can now end their search.
Since November 2021, the world and two-time European champion has been head coach of ‘his’ club, for which he worked as a professional between 1998 and 2015 and previously at ‘La Masia’. His greatest success to date was winning the championship last season, but this year looks more like a title-less season.
After losing the Clasico at Real Madrid (2:3), the gap to the Whites is already a whopping eleven points six matchdays before the end (with six games remaining). They recently bowed out of the Champions League after a bitter 4:1 defeat in the quarter-final second leg against Paris St. Germain – and have been out of the cup for some time now.
