Xavi Hernandez is coming home after six years. One of the most popular Barcelona players has decided to take over the stumbling Catalonian giant and make him great once again, but his current club Al Sadd put up a strong fight to keep their coach. In the end, Xavi managed to persuade them to let him go, and the deal will become official some time on Friday, when the last details are ironed out, according to reliable sources in Spain.Xavi is expected to be announced as the new Barca coach on Friday and could be officially presented next week, per @gerardromero 🏠⏳ pic.twitter.com/TUGQKYO97a— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 4, 2021 Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani, the sheikh and top leader of Al Sadd has promised to Xavi last summer, when he renewed his contract until 2023, that he will let him go in case Barca calls, and it seems that this will finally be the case. According to Mundo Deportivo, in the meeting they had on Thursday of last week, hours after Koeman’s dismissal, the sheikh only put two conditions, that Xavi stay until this Wednesday and that Barca have a gesture with Al Sadd. Al Thani was hoping that Laporta would travel to Qatar, but only Mateu Alemany and Rafael Yuste came, so that slowed down the negotiations. Basically, it was Xavi who was negotiating with Al Thani for himself and for Barca, while Yuste and Alemany talked to other Al Sadd directors.(3.80) CELTA VIGO (3.50) BARCELONA (2.10)Hernandez also negotiated with Barca’s delegation about his own terms and that meeting was concluded in a positive manner. So, on Thursday night, the last information is that everything is agreed in principal, but Xavi will have a final round on talks with Al Thani on Friday morning. Barca will eagerly wait for those negotiations, becuse there is a clause of 644 million Ksh for Xavi’s release, and Al Sadd were not ready to forget that sum, but considering that Xavi and Al Thani have an excellent relationship, it is expected that the sheikh will be generous. In case of any problems, Barcelona will stop the potential drama and will pay the clause, as per Mundo Deportivo.The agony continues: Barca’s flop Dembele returns from injury only to be sidelined again after 25 minutes of footballIt is also believed that Al Sadd will negotiate a deal for Barcelona to play a friendly game in Doha, and another positive note from Qatar was that Barca’s TV cameraman arrived yesterday, another sign that the official announcement is imminent. There will be no time for Xavi to travel to Vigo to watch the game with Celta, but he will be present to take the first training with the team following the match.
