Barcelona has plans to appoint Hansi Flick as their new head coach, following the announcement that Xavi Hernández will depart at the end of the season. Club president Joan Laporta revealed Xavi’s imminent departure during a meeting at the training complex on Friday.
Over the past few months, the Catalan giants have been in discussions with Flick, although the German tactician’s team refuted claims that there had been a meeting in London this week. Nevertheless, an agreement with Flick, who previously helmed Bayern Munich and the German national team, is in place. Rafa Márquez, the current B team coach, is a potential substitute.
Originally, the conclusive decision regarding the head coach’s position was set to be made after the season’s final game against Sevilla on Sunday night. However, on Friday, Laporta paid a visit to the club office in San Joan Despi, holding discussions with Xavi, Deco, vice-president Rafa Yuste, and members of Xavi’s team.
“Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona, disclosed to Xavi Hernández that he won’t be continuing as the first team’s coach in the 2024-25 season”, stated the official release. “The meeting took place at the Joan Gamper training complex and was attended by sporting VP Rafa Yuste, sporting director Anderson Luis de Souza, Deco, Xavi, and his assistants Oscar Hernández and Sergio Alegre.”
As a show of gratitude for Xavi’s contributions as a coach, Barcelona wished him the best of luck, in appreciation of his unparalleled career as a player and captain. Xavi will helm his final game as first team coach in Sevilla this Sunday. Barcelona will declare its first team’s new structure in the coming days.
Xavi had expressed his intention to continue in the role. He previously resigned on January 27th before making a U-turn on April 24th to stay put. Despite rumours last week that Laporta had resolved to dismiss him and the president’s unwillingness to meet with him, Xavi affirmed that “nothing had changed”.
Following a week filled with escalating rumours and purposeful information leaks, both Laporta and Deco remained publicly and privately silent. Xavi had always insisted that financial matters were insignificant and that his departure from the club would occur when the time came. His contract conditions suggest that his dismissal could potentially amount to an approximately €20m (£17m) expenditure for Barcelona.
Upon resigning in January, Xavi characterised the position as the Barcelona manager as being “harsh and disagreeable”, during a period when underperformance was rampant and the likelihood of his termination was rising. Despite these conditions, he vowed to carry on until the season finale, an arrangement which Laporta conceded to “since it was Xavi, a Barcelona icon, presenting it”, notwithstanding the irreversible nature of this decision, even in the event of a Champions League win.
However, with improved performance by Barcelona and difficulties in securing a successor, the senior club members including the president, vice-president and sporting director, declared their intentions publicly to persuade Xavi to extend his tenure. The coach’s responses, though vague, began showing a growing inclination towards this idea. It was made public on April 24th, following meetings at the training grounds and subsequently at Laporta’s residence, that he would remain in his position until at least 2025.
In a heartful and expressively joyous press conference which was held the next day, Laporta expressed that a mere eye-to-eye interaction between the two men lasting three minutes had sufficed. He mentioned, “I was resolute in my desire for Xavi to carry on. Consistency is crucial for prosperity.” Ironically, a month after this, Laporta informed Xavi of his dismissal. – Guardian