Barcelona officially announced their split with manager Xavi Hernandez on Friday, only a month after the Spaniard was expected to stay on for the 2024-25 season.
The announcement was made by the Spanish club following a meeting at the team’s training ground involving club president Joan Laporta, Xavi, and other senior members.
The club has told Xavi Hernández that he will not continue as the first team coach in the 2024-25 season.
Xavi guided Barcelona to the Spanish league championship last year, although his team has faced difficulties this season and will end up without a title, coming in far behind Real Madrid who are the champions.
Xavi gave over 15 professional debuts to young players from La Masia during his time as Barcelona head coach, including Fermín López, Pau Cubarsí, Lamine Yamal and Marc Guiu 🌟
Giving the kids a chance 👏 pic.twitter.com/tzkuwVDiV2
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 24, 2024
“Barcelona wants to express their gratitude to Xavi for his coaching efforts, as well as for his unparalleled career as a player and team captain, and hopes for continued success in his future endeavors.”
“He is set to lead the team for the final time during Sunday’s match against Sevilla on the road.”
Initially, he desired to leave. Afterwards, he chose to remain. Finally, Barcelona reached a breaking point and chose to end their relationship.
Spanish club wants to hire new coach
A month after Xavi Hernández announced he would remain as Barcelona coach following a disappointing season, the Spanish club informed the former midfield legend that they did not want him to return.
In the most recent development of the turbulent season under Xavi’s leadership, Barcelona revealed on Friday that a coaching change would be happening for the upcoming season, potentially the last one.
His decision to leave now comes after Xavi changed his mind about leaving the club this summer, as he had originally planned in January, and decided to stay for the last year of his contract. Xavi, aged 44, announced in April that he had reversed his decision when his players demonstrated their faith in the team’s potential and had enhanced their performances.
Deco, the Barcelona sports director, stated that the club was not searching for a new coach while Xavi was considering leaving. When Xavi announced he was reversing his decision to resign, an emotional Laporta held a press conference with his coach to express to Barcelona’s supporters that they should feel “proud” of having Xavi leading the team.
However, Laporta was said to be unhappy with Xavi’s recent remarks during a press conference stating that Barcelona’s financial struggles would make it almost impossible to rival Real Madrid and other elite European clubs.
Following the rumors spread by local media about Laporta’s potential decision to dismiss the ex-midfielder, Xavi expressed his determination to keep coaching his childhood team and believed he could still contribute to its success in winning championships.
Just this past weekend, Xavi mentioned, “I am backed by the president and Deco, our sports director.”
It seems that Laporta’s backing was only temporary, at most.
Spanish and German media speculated that Barcelona could hire former Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick as Xavi’s replacement.
Xavi in Barcelona team
Xavi departed Barcelona in 2015 as a player, having contributed to the club’s success in achieving 25 titles, which included four Champions Leagues and eight Spanish leagues. He was also a crucial part of the success of Spain’s consecutive wins in the 2010 World Cup and European Championships in 2008 and 2012.
In November 2021, Laporta hired Xavi from his previous coaching position in Qatar to take charge of a rebuilding project for a club that had recently suffered from a financial crisis after losing Messi.
During the next summer, the club used future television earnings and other assets as financial tools, which Laporta called “levers,” to acquire Robert Lewandowski and other players. Xavi managed to secure the first championships for the club after Messi left, and there was optimism for the future.
This season, Barcelona, on the other hand, was defeated in all three ‘clasico‘ games against Madrid and was also beaten twice by emerging Catalan competitor Girona, losing both league matches 4-2. It was also defeated in the quarterfinals of both the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.
Barcelona’s continued Financial challenges
The person replacing Xavi will face the challenging job of leading a team with promising young players such as Lamine Yamal and Gavi Páez but scarce financial means.
Following financial difficulties under Laporta’s predecessor, Barcelona continues to face financial challenges and has seen a significant decrease in its salary cap in recent years. It is limited to a budget of 204 million euros ($221 million) for players and coaching staff, covering salaries and transfer fees, while Madrid has 727 million euros ($788 million) at its disposal.
Barcelona has attempted to offload Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong and is expected to seek ways to reduce payroll. It is possible that Lewandowski or goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen could potentially be available for purchase.
Xavi’s final match as head coach will be the upcoming away game against Sevilla on the last day of the league season.
When the two teams meet, Sevilla coach Quique Sánchez Flores mentioned that he would warmly embrace Xavi.
