The biggest indication that Xavi Hernández, 41, was on the verge of fulfilling a lifelong dream and coaching FC Barcelona was seen in a game in the Qatari league on Wednesday. Xavi’s team, Al Sadd, visited Lekhwiya. The 3: 3 final was not even rudimentary, but that the feelings of the players of the former professional of FC Barcelona were blank: Baghdan Bounedjah had scored the first goal for Al Sadd after just four minutes, and everyone made it Players of the team went to Xavi and hugged him as if they wanted to say goodbye. And say thank you.
“It’s a question of common sense,” Xavi was supposed to tell an army of Catalan special rapporteurs who had traveled as far as Qatar after the game; the references to his imminent commitment by FC Barcelona, in whose youth he had played, could safely be considered close enough. “Both clubs (Barça and Al Sadd / d. Red.) Know my point of view and I hope everything will be resolved soon,” he added.
Xavi’s dream has always been to return to Barcelona
“Soon” is a flexible term, and the official confirmation of his return was still missing on Friday. The fact that Xavi takes a seat in the coaching bench of FC Barcelona after the international break and celebrates his debut as Barça coach at Camp Nou against local rivals Espanyol – “I have never hidden that this is my dream,” he said again and again – , is considered safe. Xavi is to replace the current interim coach Sergi Barjuan, who will instruct the still troubled team at Celta de Vigo on Saturday.
By Friday morning, the days of negotiations actually seemed to have come to an end. As early as Thursday, the club’s emissaries had summoned reporters from the Catalan media at the Ritz Hotel in Doha and whispered to them that Xavi’s announcement as the new Barça coach would take place on Friday. Al Sadd will either let him go for free or pay the contractually stipulated transfer clause, which is said to be five million euros. Friday morning seemed to confirm this scenario: Al Sadd published a statement in which it said that Xavi would be let go – after payment of the sum that had been set in a termination clause. So far so good.
But then the minutes passed without confirmation from FC Barcelona, and because the club seldom misses an opportunity at the moment to reveal embarrassing business conduct, a surprising twist followed: Die Spin Doctors of the club declared – off the record, as is customary on such occasions – that they did not want to pay. The same sources later stated that they did not have the money. Xavi will inject some of the money out of his own pocket. Which shouldn’t diminish his legendary status.
One way or another, Xavi is a Barça legend. In 17 professional seasons between 1998 and 2015 he played a total of 767 competitive games, he was involved in four Champions League victories, won eight Spanish championships and two club world championships – and with Spain’s national team was world champion in 2010 and European champion in 2008 and 2012. Above all, however, Xavi embodied like no other the essence of Barça’s much-admired gaming philosophy, which had recently been lost. And the Xavi, the almost flawless passport machine of yore, is now supposed to bring back. “I’m sure he will do a great job – if his signing is confirmed,” said his former coach Pep Guardiola, now Manchester City coach.
If Guardiola is right, Barcelona could finally end the instability at the coaching post. Since the departure of current Spanish national coach Luis Enrique (2014 to 2017), there have been many coach changes, and they have always been costly. Ernesto Valverde (2017 to 2020) received a severance payment of eleven million euros, his successors Quique Setién and Ronald Koeman are waiting for compensation of four and twelve million euros respectively. Setién has already dragged the club to court; Koeman’s lawyers are still negotiating.
In view of such numbers, it is at least understandable that FC Barcelona wants to be a little frugal. But: The obvious opportunity to get Xavi without a transfer fee was obviously let slip. It is certain that the Qatari sheikhs would have let Xavi go for free if President Joan Laporta, who has been in office since March, had traveled to Doha. But he didn’t, apparently for political reasons.
A few years ago, after the end of his first term as president, he was one of the most vocal critics of the successor presidium, which struck a promotional deal with the Qataris in 2010. First the logo of the “Qatar Foundation” landed on Barcelona’s jersey; later it was replaced by the lettering “Qatar Airways”. Laporta spoke at the time of values such as freedom and democracy, for which Catalonia stands – and recalled that he had once adorned the club’s traditionally ad-free shirt with the logo of the United Nations Children’s Fund: “We are Unicef and we are clean “, he said.
This spirit was reflected in an amendment to the club statutes adopted a few weeks ago, which obliges FC Barcelona to respect fundamental and human rights. However, that didn’t stop Laporta from making a deal with Saudi Arabia. For an entry fee worth millions, FC Barcelona will travel to Riyadh for a friendly match in December. Presumably with head coach Xavi, for whom a lot of work is waiting.
He has to organize a run-down team. Barça are currently ninth in the Spanish league, qualifying in the Champions League depends on the outstanding games against Benfica Lisbon and FC Bayern. Meanwhile, Al Sadd played very good football, according to the guidelines of the Barça gurus Cruyff and Guardiola. In the preseason, Xavi’s team not only became champions, they scored 77 goals in 22 games; She is currently also at the top of the table, with 36 goals from nine games.
“I’m not a messiah,” said Xavi these days, “it’s just about giving people hope again.” Could work.
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