Xavi Hernández has been enjoying a well-deserved holiday in Catalonia with his family since Monday after a successful season with Al Sadd. With three titles (six since he has been at the helm of the club) to his name this season, he has the whole of Barcelona on tenterhooks. Some sources have placed him as the man chosen by Joan Laporta to take over from Ronald Koeman for next season.
Koeman’s future in the air
The last word on the future of Koeman will be left to the Blaugrana president, who already made a difficult and brave decision in 2008, when he opted for a young coach, with only one year of experience in the dugout and in the Third Division, Pep Guardiola. However, on that occasion, the Barcelona chief had two important advisors in Johan Cruyff and Txiki Beguiristain to back his decision, whereas nowadays, both Mateu Alemany and Ramón Planes do not appear to have the same influence.
At Camp Nou, they are still trying to agree on whether Xavi has enough personality and experience to take on a new project. Other clubs seem to be clear that the legendary Barcelona player would be the ideal man to manage their teams. Xavi recently renewed his deal with Al Sadd until 30 June 2023, but with the inclusion of a release clause in the event that Barça come calling.
A few weeks before signing for the Qatari club, according to AS, Xavi received a very interesting offer from Borussia Dortmund to coach the German club for the next three seasons. The Bundesliga outfit have been coached since December by an interim coach with little experience in the dugout, Edin Terzic, following the sacking of Lucien Frave. Borussia, a club with an attacking philosophy and one that has always opted for young and ambitious coaches – Jurgen Klöpp and Thomas Tuchel are two examples – saw Xavi as the ideal person to reformulate their new project.
Brazil come calling for Xavi
But there was another call that surprised even Xavi himself. The Brazilian Football Federation contacted the coach to offer him the possibility of being Tite’s assistant coach with Brazil until the Qatar World Cup in 2022, before taking over as head coach after the World Cup.
Xavi, after expressing his gratitude for the interest, rejected both offers, as there are only two clubs on his current list: Al Sadd and FC Barcelona. It now remains to be seen which of the two clubs he will finally take charge of next season.
