Joan Laporta has asked Xavi to continue as Barcelona manager for one more year.
Barcelona is in the midst of searching for a new occupant for the bench. Xavi announced his departure, and since then, efforts have been focused on finding a reliable replacement who can continue the work initiated by the current coach and his team. The truth is that Deco’s task has not been easy, and there are those within the club who have not given up hope on Xavi himself. According to Ivan San Antonio of SPORT, Joan Laporta, who maintains a close and friendly relationship with Xavi, has informally but sincerely and determinedly conveyed the advisability of fulfilling the remaining year of his contract.
He has done so on more than one occasion, and he has not been alone. The club’s sporting vice president, Rafa Yuste, has personally expressed to the Blaugrana coach the suitability of his continuity in the project. Obviously, not everyone within the Barcelona leadership thinks the same way, but if Xavi were to change his mind and stay, he would have open doors to do so because both Joan Laporta, the president, and Rafa Yuste, the sporting vice president, would be delighted if he did and this is for several reasons, but above all, one fundamental reason: they are very pleased with the work he has done and continues to do with the first team.
They know, because the players express it, that the locker room is fully committed to him and that together they have formed a close-knit group, isolating themselves from external and internal noise. Additionally, he knows the club inside out and the economic challenges it faces, which acts as a brake on the sporting project. And that is something very important because, in this sense, finding a replacement is proving to be very difficult. Some of the names at the top of the priority list have said no when approached directly as Xavi’s replacement. When interlocutors inquire about the ability to strengthen the squad and the sporting objectives, they encounter a highly complex situation because, as with Xavi, titles are still demanded while venturing into the transfer market remains a chimera.
“The players are fully behind Xavi,” say those within the club. And that message has resonated so deeply that it has compelled the club, through its president and vice president, to take a step forward to explore the possibilities of Xavi continuing to lead the ship.
